All humans make mistakes, that is a fact of life. Some mistakes are made from inaccuracies, others from oversights, miscalculations, misunderstanding, underestimations, or misjudgments. But, sure as the sun rises and sets, humans make mistakes.
Children learn by having their mistakes pointed out and corrected. It is the role of the child’s guardians and teachers to impart what their misconduct is, so that in adulthood they conduct themselves appropriately in society, as law-abiding and socially appropriate members of the community.
In adulthood, it is the State that tries to ensure its citizens operate within the boundaries of its constitution and its laws, often using their power of rule to implement punitive measures to influence and ultimately control them.
In Australia, we have many layers of government, plus the judiciary and military, operating as authoritative bodies, to ensure there is accountability in our democracy when mistakes are made. Our governments setup statutory bodies to ensure there are checks and measures at every point.
The outcome is the bureaucracy we have today. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in the 2019-2020 financial year, the public sector employed more than 2 million people across Commonwealth, state and local governments.
So, what happens when high ranking authorities make questionable decisions which negatively impact the people, or they simply make mistakes? Who questions them?
When our governments responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was sold to the people that their restrictions were precautionary, designed to keep us safe. Due to the novel nature of the virus, the overwhelming majority complied. But what many Australians didn’t know was that these blanket measures did not follow the letter of the law, and as most blanket measures do, people got hurt as a result.
As many people suffered at the hands of these restrictions, we started to question them, and when our questioning was met with harshness, we started to learn first-hand what a totalitarian regime feels like. Especially when the Victorian government stepped up their restrictive measures and imprisoned around 3000 of its citizens in the public housing towers in July 2020.
When our politicians stop listening and instead use our police force to silence any dissenting voices, we must turn to one of the other authorities to return some sense and accountability. This is where the Advocate Me class actions were born.
Both the Detention Towers and National Class Actions were challenging the actions of our governments, showing where they have failed to follow their own legislation, so that our Courts can use their position of authority to correct the mistakes in administration of the biosecurity measures. These arguments have very strong legal merits, so it’s no surprise that the government would go into damage control. How this damage control is playing out is deeply revealing.
After filing the first class action against the Victorian Government; The Detention Towers, what we have witnessed is nothing short of shocking. The Victorian Legal Services Board (VLSB), a statutory body for the Victorian Government, has cancelled the Australian Practicing Certificate of the solicitor on file, Serene Teffaha.
Furthermore, this statutory body of the Victorian government, the VLSB, has selected another law firm to be installed as managers of Advocate Me, freezing all bank accounts in the process and demanding access to privileged details.
When criminals get prior notice of bank accounts being frozen, and we learn of the cancellation of Serene's practicing license by the media first, despite the obvious overreach of power, the collusion and conspiracy is palpable.
No person, regardless of their position, is above reproach. Yet when mistakes made by the establishment are exposed, instead of following the letter of the law, it would appear from the action taken that they collude and conspire, and are not averse to the use of stand-over tactics to bully those who dare to question them. The law seems to be secondary and conflicts of interest ignored.
Serene has been one voice of dissent, speaking out when decisions made have been questionable and have placed innocent people in harm's way. This has been the focus on cancelling her practicing certificate; not mismanagement, malpractice, or complaints from clients.
Serene’s attempts to have the VLSB provide demonstrative evidence for cancellation has failed to produce anything. In a strong show of commitment, Serene’s attempts to protect her clients from being extorted has ultimately resulted in her being cancelled and now rigorously pursued through the Supreme Court of Victoria.
We have had the benefit of having Serene to echo our concerns and be a voice for us, but now it is our turn to speak up as a collective in what is now a defining moment. These actions seek to shut us down and, in the process, silence the many thousands of you who form these class actions. They want to put it to rest, by implementing their own actors to ensure their actions remain unaccounted for.
The best way to take a stand is to do it together. Right now, you need to be patient with us and allow this process to play out. We sought your instructions and you provided them, and we must now execute them and ensure the remaining class actions proceed unhindered. And in this time, we encourage you to write to the Victorian Ombudsman demanding they intervene immediately, with this obvious conflict of interest that is designed to jeopardise our actions.
Since we began this journey last year, tens of thousands of honest, hard-working Australians like you have joined this movement. The establishment is trying to silence us, and in the process, all of you, but they cannot silence us all. If we apply pressure in the right places, we can win. We have the truth on our side, so share this information far and wide, so people can see what they already sense, the perversion of authority in this country.
Prime Ministers, Premiers, Judges, Magistrates, police and military are humans who make mistakes. They are not above reproach, and when things go wrong, there needs to be proper process of accountability, otherwise corruption is enabled.
Our truth and transparency is shining a light in some of the darkest places. This is what Serene is guilty of, nothing more. But, sure as the sun rises and sets, Serene, and her team, united with you all, will continue the good fight.