The Mango Inquirer was put in the naughty corner today, when the judge presiding over matters from the bench at Darwin local court asked: "You're not recording me are you?"
I looked around, but there was no one else around me.
Mango: "Myself?"
Judge: "Yes"
Mango: "Yeah, yeah I am recording audio. Yep. I've got a media pass. Uhm.."
Judge: "Don't record audio."
Mango: "Right. Has the rules changed, your honour?"
Judge: "You can't record in the court without express permission from the chief..."
Mango: "Uhm. Oh, ok, well going through Xavier the media representative, the reason I got this media pass was to be able to record the audio. I've been doing it for five months now.."
Judge: "That's not my understanding. What's your understanding, Judith?"
[I don't think Judith liked it either]
Judge: "Yeah that sounds unacceptable to me. Please don't do it."
Mango: "Ok, I can go and get clarity? That's ok your honour."
Judge: "It's not that I'm hiding anything. Everything get's done by the book. You know I don't close the books [inaudible]. It doesn't seem according to law, to me, but I can be corrected on that of course."
After the lunch break, the judge returned with a smile on his face, and addressed the elephant in the room.
Unfortunately because I wasn't recording the audio after the dressing-down of sorts, and my hearing isn't the greatest, I won't write word-for-word what was said, but it felt like an apology or an acknowledgement of Mango's right to exist, and referenced the chief justice calling over the lunch break.
Mango: "It was just a misunderstanding your honour".
We are The Mango Inquirer.
