Andrew L. Urban
My case against Mark Speakman as leader of the Liberals rests entirely on his failure, as then Attorney General of NSW, to offer a man claiming to having been wrongfully convicted the same opportunity to clear his name as Speakman afforded Kathleen Folbigg, and a second appeal (conducted by former NSW Chief Justice Tom Bathurst) into her conviction. I laid out in full why this was an unforgivable error on the part of the Attorney General, on April 22, 2019.
There was Mark Speakman exemplifying political cowardice – and now he talks about cowardly colleagues! Speakman has criticised “anonymous cowards” trying to destabilise his leadership, urging them to focus on holding the government to account.
In short, Speakman refused to act on the man’s petition for mercy for over three years and when pressed, refused to advise why not. The 76 page petition was prepared for the man by a lawyer pro bono, so outraged was he at the injustice of the case. There is evidence in the police brief that clears him, says the man.