Members on the Move

High Court in a series of ground-breaking human rights cases.

On behalf of the Commission, he intervened on behalf of a Mr Croome, who was seeking to have Tasmania’s laws criminalising homosexuality declared unconstitutional. He also intervened on behalf of a young girl who had been denied refugee status in Australia on the basis that she had already been forcibly sterilised because of her race and therefore had nothing more to fear or worry about.

Yet another example of his work was his intervention on behalf of a disabled worker who had been dismissed because of his disability when minor modifications to his job could have remedied the difficulty.

In all cases, his written submissions - which are still available on the internet - reflected his clarity of thought, empathy and basic humanity.

Remarkably, he also found the time whilst doing this to donate his time to be the head of the main New South Wales community volunteer legal service.

I wish I could tell you how Mark reflected on all of this, but I cannot. He never discussed any of these things in any detail with his friends. He was perhaps the least boastful person I have met. Fortunately a historical record exists of many of his contributions.

In the early 2000s, Mark returned to Adelaide, now with his wife Teresa and a young family. He had worked as a senior lawyer in a large Sydney corporate law firm, but it was not a career for him.

He established his own consultancy for a short time, but most of his working life in this state was spent with One Steel, Arrium and now GFG, the owners of the steel works at Whyalla.

Mark (and the owners) were always concerned about the need for reliable and cheap energy and the need to embrace renewable energy.

As his brother Chris recalls, Mark came up with the idea of creating hydroelectric power by storing and pumping water from a disused mining pit.

That idea was embraced years later by GFG as part of their overall plan, still being implemented today, to develop a carbon neutral plan and to contribute to the greening of Whyalla. The latter part of his working life was devoted to seeing that project completed, until serious illness intervened. His legacy to the town of Whyalla and to its principal business will remain for many decades.

Mark Nicholls was a great friend and lawyer. His achievements reflected what he valued.

Mark is survived by his wife Teresa, and children Georgia, Sam and Max. He never got tired of telling me how much he loved them. B

MEMBERS ON THE MOVE

The Honourable Steve Strickland QC wishes to advise the profession that he is returning to private practice as a barrister, arbitrator, mediator, and consultant generally in appeals and first instance trials.

Enquiries as to his availability, fees and generally can be directed to Campbell Chambers. Email: admin@campbellchambers.com.au; stricklandqc@gmail.com. Phone: (08) 8110 4900