Justice Michael Lee strikes again in ASIC v Star
The Federal Court judge has a penchant for colourful prose and historical references — and that was on full display in his Star judgement.
Justice Michael Lee’s judgments — at least the big ones — are never boring.
The gold standard will always be his line in the Bruce Lehrmann v Ten judgment: “Having escaped the lion’s den, Mr Lehrmann made the mistake of coming back for his hat.”
Not far behind is this from the Qantas case of 2025, in which he found the airline had unfairly sacked ground workers during the coronavirus pandemic: “It goes too far to conclude Qantas is now simply like Tartuffe; pleading virtue only when cornered and feigning contrition while harbouring no genuine regret.”
But the Federal Court judge snuck in some pearlers across the 500 pages of his reasons in the ASIC v Star Entertainment case, reflecting his penchant for historical and biblical references.
