Rosemary Riddell: Retired district court judge says taxpayer-funded perks are reasonable

A retired district court judge is defending taxpayer-funded perks her former colleagues receive.

The Post reports benefits for first appointments, or if a district court judge is required to move, include new carpets and curtains, and new school uniforms for children.

They also get business-class flights, annual Koru membership and allowances for spouses while on work-related travel.

Retired district court judge Rosemary Riddell told Heather du Plessis Allan it's reasonable.

“Judges in many cases have to move from one end of the country to the other, so I don’t see anything unusual in that.”

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
For the past eighteen months, journalists have been trying to
get speaking of judges, trying to get holds their hands
on what's called the Red Book. Now, this is a
list of perks that district court judges receive, and it's
all courtesy at tax payer. They finally agreed to release it.
On top of the three hundred and seventy thousand dollars
salaries that the judges get has been revealed. We're paying
relocation costs, new carpets, new curtains, real estate fees, school uniforms,

(00:21):
cotdo club, partner allowances, a whole bunch of other stuff
with me now is retired district court judge Rosemary Radale
Hay Rosemary.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Good morning, Heather, how are you very well?

Speaker 1 (00:30):
Thank you? This list seems entirely reasonable to me for
the job that these guys are doing. What about you?

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Absolutely there are costs that are available if you're relocating,
and some judges are and some things you don't get.
Of course, that's just the whole gamut of what's available.
But judges in many cases have to move from one
end of the country to the other, so I don't

(00:57):
see anything unusual in that.

Speaker 1 (00:58):
The only thing that I probably quibble with is why
it's necessary to fly your wife or girlfriend out, or
husband for that matter, after only two days of being
in another city.

Speaker 2 (01:11):
Well, sometimes a judge goes to another court and they
might be there for some time if it's a jury trial,
and it goes on and on. So I think I
think it's quite reasonable if if that's the case, wouldn't
you extend.

Speaker 1 (01:25):
It beyond two days? Then, Rosemary? I mean, I think
I think that two days we're probably happy for the
break from our partner, aren't we.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Well you might be.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
I wasn't halfter five days. I mean, I just wonder
if maybe, after you know, you extend it to be
a bit more reasonable. But also, look, the thing is
what's going to happen is people are going to go
through the list, they're going to compare it to what
they get, and it's going to be a whole lot
more generous. Right, So would the smarter thing from a
PR perspective not be to scrap all of the stuff
and just build it into the salary.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
That sounds easy that there's an arrangement that's been in
place for judges who've been judges for a long time,
and you don't scrap that for people who are existing judges.
And then there's judges who've been appointed since I think
it's twenty nineteen, and their expenses arrangements are slightly different,

(02:18):
so you could give them a whopping salary. What's the difference.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
Well, the difference is that we don't go through a
salary is just a salary. You don't go through the
list and feel envious.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
Well, people might then be envious about the salary.

Speaker 1 (02:36):
Undoubtedly they will, but they get it over and done
with in one fell swoop, don't you think, oh see, yeah,
well if we got to make people feel better, is
that what this is about those? Basically, hey, what about
the sabbatical? Right, so after five years in the job,
judges of the old contracts get a sabbatical of twenty weeks,
which is five months, and nowadays they only get a

(02:57):
sabbatical of about oh, I think it's three and a
half months or something like that. What do they do
with their sabbaticals?

Speaker 2 (03:03):
They can do whatever they like. Some judges choose to
go to other countries, do a research project, go to
the university. Some choose to take time out. It's entirely
up to them. It's not a requirement to go and
learn some more about being a judge.

Speaker 1 (03:21):
Hey, Rosemary, thank you so much. I really appreciate your expertise.
It's Rosemary Ridell, retired district court judge. So what happens
with the partner is if the judges. We don't know
how much the district court judges are getting, but if
it's anything like the higher court judges, like high courts
judges get when they go away on work and they
have to get sit in a different court or whatever
it is, they can claim two hundred and forty bucks
a day for their per diem, and then after a

(03:43):
couple of days they can fly the boyfriend out, and
then they can claim ninety six dollars per day for
the boyfriend. I think I think two days you can
go without your partner. I think when it starts getting
into like a week or two weeks, then I'm okay
with flying them out. For more from the Mi Casking Breakfast,
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