New Zealand Listener

‘I know how tough it is at the bottom’

Last month, Lady Deborah Chambers went on her first trip to see her adult children in Australia since the borders reopened. You could hear the relief in the barrister’s voice that she wasn’t required to endure managed isolation and quarantine on return.

In January, the leading divorce lawyer spent 10 days in MIQ in an Auckland hotel. It’s fair to say it made her blood boil.

Like all of us, the 61-year-old has been affected by Covid restrictions: some of her colleagues at Bankside Chambers have been working from home because of the Covid isolation requirements, and her PA was also off for a time with the virus. Over the past two years, Chambers has made it clear what she thinks of the government’s management of the pandemic – so much so that if you hadn’t heard of her legal work and the impact she has had as a divorce and trust litigation lawyer, you might well have heard of her now.

“There’s a new view that we are entitled to be permanently safe from all bad things.”

In late February, an opinion piece the Queen’s Counsel wrote for the attracted almost 1000 put a stop to them.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from New Zealand Listener

New Zealand Listener3 min readCrime & Violence
Branching Out
Alexander Hamilton described the courts as the least dangerous branch of government. They had neither soldiers nor money to enforce their decrees. Like all public institutions, the courts rely for their continued acceptance and legitimacy on the trus
New Zealand Listener2 min read
Putting It Out There
If you go online, you can find a 15-minute documentary series called Artists Prepare. The six episodes explore the creative process of New Zealand art practitioners, and it features dancers, singer-songwriters, poets and even mime artists. There’s a
New Zealand Listener3 min read
Uncovering Our Past
There’s a Māori whakataukī (proverb) that says, “Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua. / I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on the past.” The loop of past, present and future speaks to New Zealand Wars: Stories of Tauranga Moana, the la

Related Books & Audiobooks