POST
PRODUCTION
SCRIPT
Australian
Story
2021
Raising
the Bar
29
mins 39 secs
©2021
ABC Ultimo
Centre
700 Harris
Street Ultimo
NSW 2007
Australia
GPO Box
9994
Sydney
NSW 2001
Australia
Phone:
61 419 231 533
Precis
|
From small
town public schoolgirl to the International Court of Justice, Jennifer Robinson
has had a meteoric rise to the top of her field. In a "full
on" few months last year, the human rights lawyer was involved in two of
the most high-profile court cases in the world. She represented Amber Heard in
Johnny Depp’s defamation action against The Sun newspaper in the UK and helped
fight attempts to extradite long-term client Julian Assange to the US. At just
40, Robinson has achieved more than most lawyers will in a lifetime. Now she is
giving back to the public school system — a cause close to her heart. |
|
Ident
board |
|
00:00 |
Amber
Heard intro |
INTRODUCTION:
Hello, I’m Amber Heard. And tonight’s Australian Story is about Jennifer Robinson.
Jennifer is and has been my lawyer, my advocate and an invaluable resource and
support system for me for years. But she’s also a very dear friend. Jen’s rise
– from a shy small-town country girl to the international human rights lawyer
that she is today – is truly remarkable. Now Jen wants to make sure other kids
that were like her have a chance to follow their dreams. |
00:10 |
Julian
Assange with Geoffrey Robinson and Jennifer outside court |
|
00:45 |
|
JENNIFER
ROBINSON, HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER: To be involved in two of the world's most high-profile
cases within a three-month period, |
00:56 |
Jennifer
100% |
it was full-on. |
01:00 |
Johnny
Depp, Amber Heard montage |
GEOFFREY
ROBERTSON, BARRISTER: The high-profile cases do bring their own pressure because
the world is watching, |
01:02 |
Geoffrey
Robertson 100% |
not necessarily
understanding. |
01:10 |
Jennifer
into taxi to Old Bailey |
JENNIFER ROBINSON: If someone had
said to me 10 years ago when this case started that I would be giving evidence
in the Old Bailey about an offer from President Donald Trump, I just wouldn’t
have believed them. |
01:12 |
Jennifer
in conference |
LYNDY CRACKNELL,
MOTHER: Anyone who thinks she's got where she is through luck doesn't understand
the situation. |
01:27 |
Lyndy
100% |
She works,
I would say, 16 hours a day, every day, and sometimes more. |
01:35 |
Jennifer
in conference |
She is prepared
to do whatever it takes to make things happen. |
01:40 |
|
Jennifer: "That was the political
deal that was offered." |
01:44 |
Jennifer
dons barrister's robe |
GEOFFREY
ROBERTSON, BARRISTER: People think it's easy to flounce |
01:47 |
Geoffrey
Robertson 100% |
around in
wigs and gowns and talk from the top of your head. |
01:50 |
Jennifer
in chamber |
But you
never do that. You have to prepare. |
01:55 |
Jennifer
addresses court |
Jennifer: "Until we are all
free, none of us are." KATHY LETTE,
FRIEND: She works incredibly hard for her clients and she's so courageous |
01:59 |
|
and so fiercely
loyal towards them. But she also understands that you have to
occasionally swing off a chandelier with a cocktail between your teeth. |
02:06 |
Jennifer
with Kathy and friends |
Jennifer: "I was once described
in the media in Australia as the “sassy Assange lawyer” and I thought, I say the
same things as Geoff, why am I sassy but it’s fine for Geoff to say it?" Kathy Lette: "I know, it’s
so sexist." Jennifer: "Isn’t it." |
02:14 |
|
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: I've been in a room where people presume I'm
the secretary rather than the lawyer. |
02:26 |
Jennifer
100% |
It really
used to upset me, but now I quite enjoy it. |
02:30 |
Jennifer
walks pursued by press |
TRACEY MCANDREW,
FRIEND: She doesn't pick easy cases. That's not her. If she's passionate about
a cause, |
02:35 |
Tracey
100% |
she will
go after it with everything she's got. |
02:41 |
Jennifer
walks pursued by press |
BENNY WENDA,
WEST PAPUAN INDEPENDENCE LEADER: Wow. She's a |
02:45 |
|
brave a
woman I have ever seen in the entire planet. |
02:47 |
Jennifer
walks pursued by press. TITLE: Raising the Bar |
Music |
02:52 |
Jennifer
driving. Super: |
|
03:00 |
|
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: Growing up, I never imagined that I would have the career that I have.
I hoped that I might go on to do good things, and I certainly intended to, but
I could never have predicted where I've ended up. |
03:05 |
Jennifer
bushwalking |
I don't
know whether it's because I'm a woman in the law or because I'm a public school kid who's taken an unlikely path, but I've always
felt a sense of imposter syndrome. That I need to prove myself and continually
prove that I deserve to be here. |
03:17 |
Jennifer
sits on mountain overlooking Berry |
You can see straight down there
in the middle is Berry and I spent the first 12 years of my life living in that
little town. My whole family's still there. And then
over to the right, just behind that mountain, is Bomaderry, where I went to high
school. Basically this is my whole life until I was 18. |
03:34 |
|
Berry is
definitely the place that makes me feel confident to
go out into the world. So if all else fails, I can always
come home. And that's a pretty great safety net. |
03:53 |
Photo.
Jennifer as baby with parents |
My mum and
dad got married very young and I was their first child. |
04:04 |
Jennifer's
father at work |
My dad's
a racehorse trainer, like his dad was before him, and he works incredibly hard,
so I think that's probably where I get my work ethic. He's up at 4.30, works all
day, every day. |
04:10 |
Jennifer
100%. Super: |
The worst
thing you could possibly be called in my family is lazy. |
04:29 |
Father
on horse at beach |
TERRY ROBINSON,
FATHER: Well, I was 15 when I started. I've been riding gallopers since I was
18 and I still ride today and I'm 66. |
04:32 |
|
Music |
04:40 |
Terry
100%. Super: |
TERRY ROBINSON,
FATHER: It is a full-on career. Unfortunately, it's seven days a week, 24/7. |
04:47 |
Father
on horse at beach |
Music |
04:51 |
Photos.
Parents with baby Jennifer |
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: My dad worked his whole life for my grandfather and now runs the family
business, but he worked for basically minimum wage. My mum earned more money than
he did as a teacher, |
04:58 |
Jennifer
100% |
so money was always
stressful and difficult. |
05:11 |
Photo.
Jennifer in school uniform |
LYNDY CRACKNELL,
MOTHER: Jen was a very shy little girl. She was very quiet and very -- |
05:14 |
Lyndy
100%. Super: |
a private
girl. She kept her thoughts to herself a lot of the time. She was very curious
and she |
05:22 |
Photo.
Robinson family |
was incredibly
able to learn. JENNIFER
ROBINSON: Just as I was going to high school, my parents separated, which was
a very difficult time for our family. |
05:31 |
Ash
100%. Super: |
ASH COONEY,
SISTER: There was a lot going on that she couldn't control but what she could
control was herself. And she was really, I think, became quite clear on, well,
this is who I want to be and |
05:42 |
Photo.
Jennifer and friends, high school |
how I want
to be in the world. And I think that really drove her to be independent. |
05:50 |
Jennifer
100% |
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: I threw myself into my studies and that was the one thing that I could
control. |
05:56 |
Bomaderry
High School GVs. Jennifer walks through school |
But also I learnt about resilience and I discovered that I could
get through difficult times. When I started at Bomaderry High, I wasn't in the
top class, which my mum thought was a complete travesty and disgrace. "So
this is one of my classrooms in my first year at Bomaderry High and this was the
classroom where the teacher told me I should maybe lower my expectations about
becoming a doctor." |
06:00 |
|
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: The number of students from Bomaderry High that would end up going off
to university, let alone to do medicine, was probably pretty
small, so maybe she was right. |
06:26 |
Jennifer
100% |
But I was
determined to prove her wrong. |
06:35 |
ANU
GVs |
After high
school, I went to study law at the ANU in Canberra, but I did a double degree
in Asian Studies. So I mainly went because I wanted to
go and spend a year living in Indonesia, which was part of that degree. To be
honest, I wasn't that interested in my law degree to start with. I did a semester
in Jogjakarta |
06:37 |
Jennifer
100% |
and then
went to West Papua to do a research project and volunteer with a human rights
NGO. And those next few months changed my life forever. |
06:56 |
Archival.
Resistance fighters in West Papua |
|
07:03 |
|
There's
been an independence movement in West Papua since it was occupied by Indonesia
in the 1960s, and it's been met with violent opposition by the Indonesian military
since. |
07:07 |
Photos.
Benny Wenda. |
Before I
went to West Papua. I had already been told about Benny Wenda, that he'd been
arrested. It turns out the NGO that I was working with was actually
already representing him. So I worked on his case.
Benny was an important leader of the movement for self-determination in West Papua
because of the experiences of his childhood. |
07:18 |
Archival.
West Papua highlands |
BENNY WENDA,
WEST PAPUAN INDEPENDENCE LEADER: I was grow up in the
highlands of West Papua |
07:38 |
Wenda
100%. Super: |
with my
family, my mum, my dad. |
07:45 |
Archival.
West Papua highlands. Indonesian military |
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: His family were affected by a military attack when he was a young child and they were forced to flee |
07:48 |
Jennifer
100% |
into the
forest. He watched his own aunts being raped in front of him. |
07:55 |
Wenda
100% |
BENNY WENDA:
That is my earliest memory and I never forget it. I lost those aunties. I never
see them again. |
07:58 |
Photo.
Wenda in jail cell |
BENNY WENDA:
In 2002, I was arrested by Indonesian military. |
08:06 |
Jennifer
sorting through papers |
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: He was attacked several times inside the prison
and we were very concerned that they were going to kill him. |
08:13 |
Jennifer
with Wenda's charge sheet |
This is amazing, this is Benny's
charge sheet, original charge sheet, in Indonesian. So
it explains when he was arrested. Filled full of false allegations. So he was accused of inciting an attack on the police station
and inciting the local population to raise the flag and then defend the flag. |
08:21 |
Photo.
Wenda in court |
I worked
on Benny's trial as part of his defence team and I was
|
08:43 |
Jennifer
100% |
shocked
by the injustice I saw in his trial. But I was also intrigued by him. He had this
remarkable presence. |
08:51 |
Photo.
Wenda with supporters. Jennifer in b/ground |
BENNY WENDA:
My boys, you know, tell me that it's a white woman |
08:58 |
Wenda
100% |
now with
the working with your case. Amazing, amazing that, you know, I know that some
people out there watching and we are not alone. I'm not
alone. |
09:04 |
Re-enactment.
Night driving to safe house |
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: Benny's wife Maria and their baby daughter Koteka were effectively in
hiding because of the threat to their lives. To meet them I had to go to a safe
house and they made me wear |
09:15 |
Jennifer
100% |
all dark
clothes, cover as much of my white skin as I could. |
09:29 |
Re-enactment.
Night driving to safe house |
MARIA WENDA:
When Jen came in in the middle of night |
09:33 |
Maria
and Koteka. Super: |
to come
and visit us, I felt like lift my spirit up. Wow, this is like it bring hope. |
09:36 |
Photo.
Jennifer with Benny and family |
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: I gave them enough money to get a boat over to Papua New Guinea and
survive in the refugee camps over there for a while. But I didn't know if I'd
ever see them again. |
09:43 |
Jennifer
holding West Papua flag. |
TERRY ROBINSON,
FATHER: I didn't know what Jen was getting up to in West Papua at all and I'm
pleased I didn't because I certainly would have been worried about her, that's
for sure. But |
09:55 |
Terry
100%. Super: |
she's very
brave and, you know, when she believes in something,
she's very steadfast about it. |
10:03 |
Photos.
Jennifer in West Papua |
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: My time in West Papua was life changing. I was traumatised by what I'd
seen. I was only 21 and suddenly I was dealing with |
10:08 |
Jennifer
100% |
being followed
around by intelligence services, life and death situations,
investigating rape and torture and human rights abuse. And to me, it just seemed
impossible to walk away from that. |
10:19 |
Lyndy
100%. Super: |
LYNDY CRACKNELL,
MOTHER: It really gave her the human face of human rights and what happens when
your human rights aren't respected or even exist. And she came back fired. |
10:30 |
Photos.
Wenda and cellmate/ Wenda with family and Jennifer |
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: Not long after I returned to Australia, I heard that Benny had escaped
from prison and was able to get to the UK where he claimed asylum. I was with
Benny at Heathrow Airport when Maria and Koteka came to the country and it was |
10:43 |
Jennifer
100% |
beautiful.
I mean, six months before that, I didn't know if I'd see any of them ever again
or if they'd ever see each other ever again. |
11:02 |
Maria
and Koteka. Super: |
MARIA WENDA:
We arrived in the UK and she already there. She was in the airport. And I was
like surprised that, wow, she's still here. |
11:10 |
Photo.
Wenda with family and Jennifer |
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: I was supposed to go back to finish my law degree. But I couldn't do
it. |
11:18 |
Jennifer
100%. Super: |
Suddenly,
people were talking about what to wear to the pub on Friday night, and I just
thought, who cares? There’s bigger things going on in
the world. I couldn’t… it’s all relative. So I took a
year off to process what I'd been through. And when I came back to my law degree,
|
11:24 |
ANU
GVs |
I was motivated
and threw myself into it because I knew what I wanted to do with it. |
11:38 |
|
And that
was to help the people of West Papua and to become a human rights lawyer. |
11:43 |
Jennifer
at Oxford |
Music |
11:48 |
|
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: I really wanted to go back to the UK to be near Benny and Maria, who
had settled in Oxford. I also knew I wanted to do postgraduate studies, but I
couldn't afford to do that without a scholarship. So
someone suggested that I apply |
11:53 |
Jennifer
100% |
for the
Rhodes scholarship and I got it. |
12:04 |
Jennifer
greets Bob Wyllie |
Music |
12:07 |
|
LYNDY CRACKNELL,
MOTHER: She was very conscious when she went to Oxford that she did not fit the
profile of the Rhodes Scholar because she was. |
12:11 |
Lyndy
100% |
a) female,
public school, divorced parents, low income. |
12:18 |
Jennifer
walks with Bob Wyllie at Rhodes House |
Bob Wyllie, Head Porter: "Many a grand summer ball as you
know yourself being here for three of them." JENNIFER
ROBINSON: When I looked around at Oxford, even of the scholarship students, the
great proportion of my year at least had been to private schools. |
12:22 |
|
Bob Wyllie, Head Porter: "Can you remember your coming up
dinner in here?" Jennifer: "I do. I remember
feeling so overwhelmed, I guess." JENNIFER
ROBINSON: It was a pretty big culture shock for a kid
from the country to be sitting in a huge fancy dining hall next to kids from Eton. |
12:34 |
|
One of my
friends joked with me much later that when he met me, he thought, |
12:48 |
Jennifer
100% |
who's this
bimbo? But he admitted that I proved him wrong. |
12:54 |
Oxford
dining hall |
I will never
forget my first dinner at Oxford. We were sitting in a grand dining hall surrounded
by portraits of old white men, and we were welcomed with a speech talking about
all the important, famous Balliol men – prime ministers, Nobel Prize winners.
|
13:00 |
Jennifer
100% |
And then
he said, ‘And we let women in, in the '70s. So look around
fellows, you could be sitting next to your future wife.’ And I thought, wow, what
are we, marriage fodder? |
13:15 |
Geoffrey
Robertson puts on jabot and robe |
Geoffrey:
"Thank heavens for Velcro." JENNIFER
ROBINSON: By my second year at Oxford, I started doing research work with Geoffrey
Robertson QC, who I had long admired. GEOFFREY
ROBERTSON, BARRISTER: I liked her work. She was very industrious, she's very amicable
and outgoing and inventive. |
13:28 |
Geoffrey
100%. Super: |
She also
had a nice sense of mischief, which I always think is essential. |
13:45 |
Geoffrey
dons wig |
So I hired her. JENNIFER
ROBINSON: Since being in West Papua, I wanted to be a human rights lawyer, but
I didn't know |
13:50 |
Photo.
Jennifer with Geoffrey |
how to get
there. There's no straightforward path. And to me, working with Geoffrey Robertson
|
13:56 |
Jennifer
100% |
was a wonderful
entrance into that work. |
14:02 |
Archival. Foreign Correspondent Assange report. Super: |
Reporter: Julian Assange, Australian-born editor-in-chief
of the internet whistle-blower site Wikileaks. Julian Assange: "Every organisation
rests upon a mountain of secrets." |
14:05 |
Geoffrey
Robertson in lift/Assange internet montage |
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: In 2010, I remember Geoff giving me a call saying, ‘What do you know
about WikiLeaks?’ And I said, well, they've been publishing |
14:17 |
Jennifer
100% |
some really interesting information and the editor's Australian.
And he said we should get in contact with him because he is going to need our
help. |
14:26 |
Archival.
Julian walks |
KATHY LETTE,
FRIEND: The thing about Julian is that he's brilliant but he has no social skills,
which is why he gets into so much trouble all the time. |
14:33 |
Kathy
100%. Super: |
And so there was only one lawyer I thought who would understand
him and that was Jen Robinson. |
14:41 |
Archival.
Julian walks |
And they
immediately clicked and she became his absolute champion. KRISTINN
HRAFNSSON, WIKILEAKS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Jennifer has been a central figure in Julian's
legal |
14:47 |
Archival.
Julian on embassy balcony |
fight on
many fronts and in so many |
14:55 |
CCTV.
Jennifer and Julian in conference |
legal wrangles.
There have been so many lawyers, you know, in so many countries and |
14:58 |
Kristinn
100%. Super: |
Jennifer
has been at the centre of organising the whole defence basically. |
15:04 |
Archival.
Robertson, Jennifer, and Assange walk |
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: In the first two years that I was representing Julian, I had to deal
with an arrest warrant, |
15:12 |
Jennifer
100% |
major international
publications, an Interpol arrest notice, the banking blockade, the Swedish extradition
case, his asylum claim with Ecuador. |
15:19 |
Archival.
'Free Assange' poster on railing. Jennifer walks |
It was a
very intense time. I received death threats. I was warned not to walk home from
the office on my own. I was |
15:30 |
Re-enactment.
Jennifer shows passport |
warned about
my phone being tapped. I was stopped trying to board a flight in London at Heathrow.
|
15:40 |
Jennifer
100% |
And that
was, that was shocking to me. |
15:47 |
Jennifer
at Heathrow airport. Super: |
Reporter: Miss "Robinson says
she was told she might be on a travel watch list and may need special clearance
to board a plane." |
15:51 |
|
Jennifer: "I suspect if there
is indeed a list and my name’s on it perhaps it has something
to do with my work for WikiLeaks." |
15:57 |
|
GEOFFREY
ROBERTSON, BARRISTER: Our highest calling is to act for our client, no matter
how |
16:03 |
Geoffrey
100%. Super: |
demonised
they happen to be. And of course, acting for Assange |
16:11 |
Archival.
Jennifer, Assange and Geoffrey outside court |
means a
certain degree of hostility. Julian Assange: "And continue to protest my innocence." |
16:17 |
|
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: Much has been said in the media about Julian as a person by many people
who have never met him or dealt with him, but this case is bigger than that. It
is about the principle, |
16:25 |
Jennifer
100% |
the principle
of protecting press freedom and freedom of speech. |
16:33 |
Doughty
Street chambers. Super: London, UK |
I had always
intended to go to the bar, whether in Australia or in the UK, and in 2016 I joined
Doughty Street, |
16:38 |
Photo.
Robertson, Jennifer and others at function |
which is Geoffrey's Chambers. KATHY LETTE,
FRIEND: Geoff came home to say he'd hired two new juniors. |
16:46 |
Kathy
100%. Super: |
So they both walked
in and it's Amal Clooney and Jen Robinson. I mean, they're both supermodels. |
16:52 |
GFX.
Amal and Jennifer photos over chambers. Supers: |
And I was
like, are you kidding me? Was there not one plain, pasty faced, |
16:58 |
Kathy
100% |
pimply,
lank-haired woman in the cull? Really? |
17:04 |
Jennifer
adjusts jabot and dons robe |
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: Doughty Street Chambers is the most remarkable place with a rich history
of defending human rights and civil liberties. SARAH DOBBIE,
BARRISTER AND FORMER RESEARCH ASSISTANT: I think what drives a human rights lawyer
is a profound sense of |
17:08 |
Sarah
100%. Super: |
compassion
and anger all at once. Getting to the point where instead of waiting for someone
else to do something because they should, they might, they could – actually you just have to. |
17:21 |
Jennifer
dons barrister's wig |
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: It's a different way of thinking about the law than what I learnt at
university. Newsreader: "Actor Johnny Depp |
17:33 |
News report. Super: |
has lost his defamation case against
a British newspaper that claimed he had assaulted his former wife Amber Heard." |
17:39 |
Jennifer,
Amber and others into court. Depp into court |
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: Last year, while Julian's case was going on, I was also advising Amber
Heard in Johnny Depp's defamation case against The Sun newspaper. That case raised significant concerns from domestic
violence groups because of the |
17:46 |
Jennifer
100%. Super: |
ways in
which the law can be used to silence those who want to speak out about their allegations
of domestic violence. |
18:03 |
Amber addresses press outside court |
Amber Heard: "It has been incredibly painful to
relive the breakup of my relationship." |
18:10 |
|
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: I have worked on some very high-profile, controversial cases. I have
never seen a client face the level of vitriol and abuse that I saw directed at
Amber. And it's a |
18:16 |
Jennifer
100% |
sad reflection
on where we are as a society, that a woman |
18:33 |
Amber
covers her face and into court. Department into court |
who has
got a restraining order in respect of domestic violence allegations has to face
that kind of abuse. I'm very limited in what I can say
about that case because it's still on appeal. And he is suing her personally for
defamation in the United States. |
18:37 |
Jennifer
shares meal with Wenda family. Super::, UK |
|
18:55 |
|
GEOFFREY
ROBERTSON, BARRISTER: Well, she's achieved a degree of publicity because of her
help to Amber Heard and Julian Assange and others. But I think |
19:02 |
Geoffrey
100% |
most of
her work is unknown. And her work for West New Guinea, for example, has been extraordinary. |
19:13 |
Dinner
with Wenda family |
Jennifer: "It’s a great thing
you guys are so committed to your studies. And doing so well." |
19:22 |
|
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: Being on the ground in West Papua and seeing what I saw has left me
with a lifelong commitment to their cause and the movement for self-determination. Jennifer: "Your dad laughs
at my Indonesian now. I need to practice a bit more." Koteka Wenda: We call you Kaka Jen,
Kaka Jen, which means big sister. Jennifer: "It’s true." |
19:25 |
|
KOTEKA WENDA,
DAUGHTER: Whenever she comes, she doesn't just come for, like, lawyer stuff, but
she comes in, she takes time and sits down with each of us. Asks, |
19:49 |
Koteka
and Maria. Super: |
‘What's
going on in your life? How can I help?’ And then she’ll give us amazing advice. |
19:57 |
Family
dinner with Wendas |
Jennifer: "But you’re not going
to be a lawyer, right. You saw how hard I had to work." JENNIFER
ROBINSON: Yes, I've given a lot to the cause, but I have received so much from
them in |
20:01 |
Jennifer
100% |
terms of
love and support and encouragement and opportunities to be involved in something
so much bigger. |
20:12 |
Jennifer
and Benny look at photos |
Jennifer: "Remember this trip
when we got in so much trouble. I love this picture." Benny Wenda: "Yeah, Port Moresby." Jennifer: "As an Australian
I thought well I’ll be alright but I was more worried
about you. Remember everybody got arrested?" Benny Wenda: "It was terrible." BENNY WENDA:
My dream always because I already said to |
20:19 |
Benny
100%. Super: |
one day
you will become a big lawyer. At that point you will help me, but she never believed. |
20:35 |
International
Court of Justice hearing |
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: In 2018, I appeared in the International Court of Justice to argue for
the legal principles that would protect West Papua. |
20:41 |
|
Jennifer: "All States have
the obligation to refrain from any action that deprives the people of their right
to self-determination." |
20:52 |
|
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: I guess the message that I try to give to law students when I speak
at universities is that it is possible to make a difference with the law |
21:00 |
Jennifer
100% |
and the
law is, in fact, a powerful tool for social change. |
21:07 |
Photo.
Jennifer and Benny |
BENNY WENDA:
Without her, I cannot move, you know. |
21:11 |
Benny
100% |
She's like
a backbone of the struggle itself. |
21:16 |
Photo.
Jen and Benny |
LYNDY CRACKNELL,
MOTHER: She knew it was going to be a very long fight. In fact, she knows that
the fight will probably go on as long as she is alive
and even longer. |
21:19 |
Lyndy
100%. Super: |
But she
just knows also that unless you take on the fight, nothing is going to change. |
21:29 |
Assange being dragged into police van. Super: London, April 2019 |
Reporter: "After 8 years of
cat and mouse, Julian Assange is on the precipice of extradition to the United
States." JENNIFER
ROBINSON: I've been Julian's lawyer for 10 years now and It
has been incredibly challenging. |
21:35 |
Jennifer
outside court |
Jennifer: "He’s under a huge
amount of pressure, with wide-ranging, significant cases in numerous jurisdictions
to deal with." |
21:53 |
Jennifer
walks with Amal Clooney, Assange and Geoffrey Robertson |
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: But also has really given me remarkable experience
as a lawyer, dealing with something so international, so controversial, so political. |
21:59 |
Jennifer
and woman into taxi |
LYNDY CRACKNELL,
MOTHER: I knew she would be a valuable asset to the case,
but I also knew there would be a personal toll. She fires up when she needs to
fire up but then she's |
22:10 |
Lyndy
100% |
exhausted
afterwards. So, you know, you worry about that. |
22:26 |
Jennifer
and woman in taxi |
|
22:29 |
News
report. 'Assange ruling'. Super: |
Reporter: "America’s bid to extradite Julian
Assange from Britain is blocked but the Australian WikiLeaks founder remains behind
bars." |
22:36 |
Jennifer
100% |
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: Ultimately, we've won the extradition case on the grounds that he is
a suicide risk. |
22:46 |
Assange
supporters |
But the
judgement is not a win for free speech. The United States have indicated they
will appeal against the decision and it's likely that will be heard later this
year. |
22:52 |
Jennifer
walks to Parliament House. Super: |
Being back
in Australia has given me the opportunity to sit down face to face with politicians
to discuss Julian's case. |
23:05 |
Jennifer
addresses politicians |
Jennifer: "Enough is enough.
This has gone on for more than a decade. We won the case. It’s time for him to
be returned home." |
23:17 |
|
GEOFFREY
ROBERTSON, BARRISTER: It's a fight, isn't it? And Assange at
the moment faces 175 years in prison. |
23:24 |
Geoffrey
100%. Super: |
And so I'm glad that Jen is still there helping him. |
23:33 |
Acacia Awards launch. Super: Sydney, March
2021 |
|
23:39 |
|
LYNDY CRACKNELL,
MOTHER: She's always based her career on what she feels is important. She loves
the fact that she didn't do it |
23:52 |
Lyndy
100% |
the traditional
way. She came up through the public education system and now she wants to help
more Jennifers. |
24:00 |
Jennifer addresses group |
Jennifer: "It’s really exciting.
This is something that I've been thinking about for at least a decade." JENNIFER
ROBINSON: I recently started a program called The Acacia Awards with the Public
Education Foundation, together with a bunch of former public-school kids who have
been successful in a variety of fields. So people like
Adam Hills, Kathy Lette, Myf Warhurst, Tom Tilley. It provides |
24:05 |
Jennifer
100%. Super: |
a scholarship,
funding and the mentoring that I wish that I had had. |
24:26 |
Jennifer addresses group |
Jennifer: "When I was at school,
I didn't really know a lawyer and certainly didn't see any examples of lawyers
coming either from my school or even really in my local community." |
24:30 |
Jennifer
visits Bomaderry High School |
LYNDY CRACKNELL,
MOTHER: A lot of public-school kids go on and do great things, but there's never
been a loop back into the system, |
24:38 |
Lyndy
100% |
or not a
consistent loop back, where they go back and say, I did this, you can too. |
24:46 |
Jennifer
visits Bomaderry High School |
And I think
if you want kids to harness their vision to a star, you got to show them a couple
of stars. |
24:51 |
|
JENNIFER ROBINSON: This is where I went to high school. It’s really important for me to be able to come back and speak to
the students because I feel like I got a great education here and I want to encourage
kids to know that they can do whatever they want from a public education. |
24:59 |
Jennifer
addresses high school students |
"Hi, everyone. My name's Jen.
I am a former Bomaderry High School student and was here 20-something years ago." JENNIFER
ROBINSON: Going back to my school was just so |
25:13 |
Jennifer
100% |
rewarding
and it actually affected me emotionally. |
25:23 |
Jennifer
talks with high school students |
Student: "What did you find
most difficult about doing a law degree coming from a regional area?" Jennifer: "There is socio-economic
difference down here, but it was even more stark to me when I went to university. |
25:26 |
|
I had to work three jobs to put
myself through my law degree. You know, a lot of my friends who went to private schools
had sort of private tutors and extra assistance and all of things that I had to
do on my own. And so I think that actually puts you in
really good stead when you get to university because it's such independent learning." |
25:36 |
|
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: I came away with the feeling – in fact, the students told me – that
seeing someone who had come from where they came from and who had done this made
them feel like it was more possible for them. |
25:53 |
Jennifer
100% |
And that
really moved me. |
26:04 |
Jennifer
talks with high school students |
Student: "Do you think you
are the same person as you were in high school?" |
26:07 |
|
Jennifer: "I think I'm the
same person. Obviously, life experience changes you in some ways, but I love coming
back and I still come back down the coast here a lot." |
26:11 |
Jennifer
greets friends |
|
26:21 |
|
TERRY ROBINSON,
FATHER: The best thing about Jen, she's so natural. She's never changed. |
26:31 |
Terry
100%. Super: |
When she
started go really well overseas, she'd just come home
and it's the old Jen again. |
26:35 |
Jennifer
greets friends |
TRACEY MCANDREW,
FRIEND: So much has happened in all our lives. But she still comes home. We still
catch up. And, yeah, she's just a really loyal person
and |
26:39 |
Tracey
100%. Super: |
she will
stick by you 100 per cent. And that's what she's done with some of her cases is
she's stuck by those people and effectively become part of their family as well. |
26:58 |
Jennifer at lunch with friends |
Jennifer: "What are you reading?
Harry Potter. He’s like me when I was that age. I was like you. I loved the books
when I was little. I’d always be reading in the corner." |
27:07 |
Jennifer
walks pursued by photographers |
ASH COONEY,
SISTER: Being away from home has definitely been challenging
for Jen, not only missing the family and I guess missing that strong sense of
connection to your roots. |
27:29 |
Ash
100%. Super: |
Being at
the beach, being active, being on the horses. That's all really
important to Jen. |
27:36 |
New
South Wales South Coast GVs. Jen riding horse on beach |
Music |
27:40 |
|
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: I feel most at home here in Australia. This is my home. But I also love
my work in London. |
27:44 |
Jennifer
100% |
My hope
has always been that I'd be able to split my time between Australia and the UK.
And I'm definitely working towards that. |
27:50 |
Jen
riding horse on beach |
Music |
27:58 |
|
LYNDY CRACKNELL,
MOTHER: Once she's decided she's going to do something, she doesn't give up. It
doesn't always give her the results she wants. I mean, Julian’s still in jail
and West Papua’s still struggling, |
28:02 |
Lyndy
100% |
but she's
making a difference. |
28:11 |
Jen
riding horse on beach |
JENNIFER
ROBINSON: There are times when working on these cases which involve massive power
imbalances when I get down about it. But when you look at the course of history
and the changes that have been possible, that's what gives me hope. |
28:13 |
Jennifer
at lookout on top of mountain |
I once met
Desmond Tutu and I asked him 'What got you through the darkest times of apartheid?'
And he took my hand and he said to me, 'Jen, history is long, but know that justice
will prevail.' And I try to remember that when I'm having a bad day. |
28:33 |
Jennifer
100% |
I do think
that my career is really only just starting. As a barrister, life is long, career is long. In the law they
say you get better with age. So I feel like, yeah, I'm
only just starting. |
28:52 |
Wenda
family sing. Credits [see below] |
[Singing] |
29:10 |
Out
point |
|
29:39 |
RAISING THE BAR Producer and Script Greg
Hassall Producers Roscoe
Whalan (UK) Quentin
McDermott Editor Ian
Harley Camera Simon
Beardsell Andrew Greaves Quentin Davis Sound Anthony Frisina Spiros Mavrangelos |
Acknowledgements Bomaderry High
School Camera Tim
Stevens Andrew Kennedy Production Jack Hawke Archive Brian
May Graphics Deborah
McNamara Compile
Editor Damien
Davis Post Production Audio Jikou Sugano Colourist Chris
Downey |
Assistant
Editors Ryan
Brookhouse Kai-Bin Wong Publicity Paul
Akkermans Promotions LJ
Grace Legal Kathryn
Wilson Digital
Producer Megan
Mackander Production
Coordinator Victoria
Allen Assistant
Production Manager Georgia
Slade Senior
Production Manager Michelle
Roberts Supervising
Producer Rebecca
Latham Executive
Producer Caitlin
Shea |
Australian
Story
abc.net.au/austory
©
2021