25 Facts About Bernard Collaery

Bernard Joseph Edward Collaery was born on 12 October 1944 and is an Australian barrister, lawyer and former politician.

Bernard Collaery served as Deputy Chief Minister and Attorney-General from 1989 to 1991 in the Kaine Alliance Government.

Bernard Collaery was born in Caversham, England, four months after his father, Flying Officer Edward Francis Bernard Collaery was killed in action.

Bernard Collaery arrived in Australia in 1945 and was educated at the Christian Brothers College in Wollongong, New South Wales and at the Sydney Law School at the University of Sydney where he graduated with a Bachelor of Laws.

Bernard Collaery was elected to the Assembly at its first general election, held in 1989 and was leader of the Residents Rally Party, "a community-based urban green party".

On 5 December 1989, Bernard Collaery moved a motion in the Assembly:.

Bernard Collaery was appointed Deputy Chief Minister and Attorney-General in the Kaine Liberal government with responsibility for welfare and community services; housing; sport and recreation; and youth.

The debate that followed showed that Bernard Collaery had been removed from his position as Deputy Chief Minister and Attorney General because he and the two remaining Rally members in the Assembly could not support planning decisions affecting school sites.

Comments by Mr Duby, one of the three ministers involved in the decisions in Bernard Collaery's absence, confirmed that account of the reason for the fall of the Alliance Government.

Rosemary Follett resumed the Chief Ministership, and Bernard Collaery sat on the backbenches.

Bernard Collaery was unsuccessful in seeking re-election to the Assembly at the 1992 general election.

Bernard Collaery is the principal of Bernard Collaery Lawyers, a Canberra-based law firm with an international law division embracing international maritime and treaty law, refugee and civil rights law.

Bernard Collaery has represented the interests of the people of Timor-Leste over a long period of time.

Bernard Collaery advocated on behalf of Timor-Leste and was legal advisor to the National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction in the critical period up until formal independence in 2002.

In 2013 Bernard Collaery alleged that two agents from the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation raided his Canberra office and seized electronic and paper files.

Bernard Collaery was representing a witness in a case brought by the Timor-Leste government against the Australian Government over the bugging of the Timor-Leste cabinet offices during the negotiations for a petroleum and gas treaty in 2004.

Bernard Collaery was accused of sharing information with ABC journalists about the 2004 bugging operation.

The report found that the cause of the delay in bringing charges against "Witness K" and Bernard Collaery was the reluctance of former attorney-general George Brandis to give consent to the prosecution.

Bernard Collaery's consent was necessary due to the nature of the charges.

Bernard Collaery said his evidence would likely embarrass previous Australian governments.

Bernard Collaery said that the use of the Act had interfered with his defence and ability to instruct his lawyers, as he was not sure what could be revealed in court and was restricted in what he could tell his lawyers.

Bernard Collaery appealed against the June 2020 decision of the ACT Supreme Court to hear some matters in a closed court.

Bernard Collaery's appeal involved some "judge-only evidence" which Bernard Collaery and his lawyers had not seen due to secrecy status.

Bernard Collaery has written a book, Oil Under Troubled Water: Australia's Timor Sea Intrigue published by Melbourne University Publishing in 2020.

The letter points out that Bernard Collaery is bound by the provisions of the Intelligence Services Act due to his arrangement with ASIS that was made in order for him to represent "Witness K".