First , go to a North Queensland dump shop and acquire a batch of discarded , old law books , including two battered and nibbled bound volumes of the Australian digest of the reported decisions of Australian courts and Australian appeals to the Privy Council , 1825-1933 and 1934-1947 .
A prominent Australian Labor Party identity , he helped draw up the United Nations charter in 1945 , ensured fairer representation of smaller nations on the new world order body . During his long legal career , in 1932 he backed an appeal by unionist Hal Devanny who , with his wife , New Zealand Communist author and activist , Jean , came to Townsville , where she died , aged 63, from leukemia . Jean Devanny's manuscript about living on Magnetic Island , along with other personal papers, is in the Special Collections, Eddie Koiki Mabo Library , James Cook University .
At a time when the world is being swamped by outrageous , toxic social media messages it is interesting to note that there are some 50 pages in the first volume dealing with defamation, covering distinction between libel and slander, justification , fair comment, privilege,newspapers and printing . The offending remarks seem mild when compared with the modern day bilge heaped on the community by the platforms.
One case involved what was described as a review of an obscure literary work of poor quality by a woman who wrote under a pen- name and had published at her own expense a detective story of which only six copies were sold in Australia .The defendant company, the Sydney Morning Herald, said the author ,hiding discreetly behind a pen-name, was surely a humorist in disguise , the book averaging a laugh on every page .
In 1935 Sunkissed Bananas (Tweed ) Ltd. took on the Banana Growers' Federation Cooperative Limited , resulting in the awarding of a farthing damages.
Gaming and wagering cases provide interesting reading, covering gambling with juveniles, unlawful games and offences resulting thereto , card games-rummy is not an illegal game , two up pennies , slips passed through a slot , hotels being used for illegal purposes , raffles , Skill Ball .
