ID :
192297
Fri, 07/01/2011 - 14:36
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/192297
The shortlink copeid
Malcolm McCusker sworn in as WA governor
SYDNEY (AAP) - July 01 - Perth barrister and philanthropist Malcolm McCusker has been sworn in as governor of Western Australia at a ceremony at Government House in Perth.
The 72-year-old, who started his own law firm at 29 and was appointed Queen's Counsel at 44, will host the Queen and Prince Philip at the vice-regal residence in October during the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.
Mr McCusker was raised in North Perth. His father was in the greengrocery business, while his mother was a seamstress. He graduated from law school and admitted to practice aged 23.
He went on to lead the team that overturned the murder conviction of Andrew Mallard, who was freed after 12 years' imprisonment.
Mr McCusker also successfully represented Ray Mickelberg, wrongly convicted for the 1982 Perth Mint swindle.
In 1964 he and his father set up the Town & Country Building Society, which enabled low- and middle-income owners to buy a home.
ANZ bought a controlling stake in the operation in 1990 for $145 million.
Mr McCusker has donated more than $20 million to charity and, through the McCusker Charitable Foundation, has assisted scores of organisations in areas such as Alzheimer's disease research, child abuse and homelessness.
He served as the first parliamentary inspector of the Corruption and Crime Commission and was the special inspector appointed to investigate the Rothwells Bank collapse in 1989.
He also served as the chairman of the Legal Aid Commission and the Advisory Board of the Western Australian Constitutional Centre.
For several years Mr McCusker has acted pro bono for elderly Perth man Charles Zentai in his fight against extradition to Hungary, where he is wanted for questioning over the murder of Jewish teenager Peter Balazs in Nazi-occupied Budapest in November 1944.
That case is still in the courts with the government appealing against a Federal Court ruling that Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor's decision to extradite Mr Zentai was outside his jurisdiction.
Recently Mr McCusker acted as counsel assisting the WA coroner in an inquiry into last December's Christmas Island boat tragedy in which up to 50 asylum seekers were killed.
Mr McCusker married Australian Ballet dancer Tonya Batalin in 2007 and a year later they were surprised when she fell pregnant with baby Mary, named in honour of Mr McCusker's mother.
The 72-year-old, who started his own law firm at 29 and was appointed Queen's Counsel at 44, will host the Queen and Prince Philip at the vice-regal residence in October during the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.
Mr McCusker was raised in North Perth. His father was in the greengrocery business, while his mother was a seamstress. He graduated from law school and admitted to practice aged 23.
He went on to lead the team that overturned the murder conviction of Andrew Mallard, who was freed after 12 years' imprisonment.
Mr McCusker also successfully represented Ray Mickelberg, wrongly convicted for the 1982 Perth Mint swindle.
In 1964 he and his father set up the Town & Country Building Society, which enabled low- and middle-income owners to buy a home.
ANZ bought a controlling stake in the operation in 1990 for $145 million.
Mr McCusker has donated more than $20 million to charity and, through the McCusker Charitable Foundation, has assisted scores of organisations in areas such as Alzheimer's disease research, child abuse and homelessness.
He served as the first parliamentary inspector of the Corruption and Crime Commission and was the special inspector appointed to investigate the Rothwells Bank collapse in 1989.
He also served as the chairman of the Legal Aid Commission and the Advisory Board of the Western Australian Constitutional Centre.
For several years Mr McCusker has acted pro bono for elderly Perth man Charles Zentai in his fight against extradition to Hungary, where he is wanted for questioning over the murder of Jewish teenager Peter Balazs in Nazi-occupied Budapest in November 1944.
That case is still in the courts with the government appealing against a Federal Court ruling that Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor's decision to extradite Mr Zentai was outside his jurisdiction.
Recently Mr McCusker acted as counsel assisting the WA coroner in an inquiry into last December's Christmas Island boat tragedy in which up to 50 asylum seekers were killed.
Mr McCusker married Australian Ballet dancer Tonya Batalin in 2007 and a year later they were surprised when she fell pregnant with baby Mary, named in honour of Mr McCusker's mother.
