TLF ID R10295
This is an edited sound recording of former Federal Court of Australia judge Ron Merkel outlining the reasons why he retired as a judge to resume work as a barrister. Merkel says that Australia had just gone through a period during which human rights had become a 'big issue' and he wanted to focus on human rights in the last stage of his legal career. He says that in particular he wanted to work on cases involving the human rights of Indigenous Australians, 'the most fundamental human rights we encounter in Australia'. The recording was made in December 2008.