I’m with the Judges

I’m actually onside with the Supreme Court Justices in their battle over their building.

Not so much with gardens and toilets but with the request to be co-located on the one floor. A Justice Ministry bureaucrat has said you don’t need to on the same floor to get collegiality, and uses the Beehive as an example.

The trouble is the Beehive is an awful work environment in terms of collegiality. Unless you go out of your way to visit someone, you have almost no casual interaction with other people, except for the odd lift journey.

in fact some people put down the bitterness of the Lange/Douglas fights in the 80s to the lack of day to day contact, so it became the 7th vs the 9th floor.

When we moved into Parliament House, it was a huge improvement. Sure not quite all on the one floor, but it was great. When walking to other offices you would often chat to people in the corridors or as you go past their office. Also heaps of meetings would actually be held in the corridors and if you are walking past, you join in and contribute. It really does make a big difference to communications and collegiality.

So I don’t think it is asking too much to have all five Supreme Court Judges on the same floor.