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42 Alternative L.J. 3 (2017)

handle is hein.journals/alterlj42 and id is 1 raw text is: Opinion A useful antidote to legal complacency Back in the year 2000, I wrote an Opinion for the Alternative Law Journal under the heading, 'Who cares about human rights anyway?' That Opinion seems to me just as relevant today as when we were marking the start of a new century. At that time, and in answer to this question, I said that: 'I do. You do. Readers of this journal do. Members of every minority (and there are a lot of them) do'. And so we find ourselves today. Still caring about human rights. When I started out in the law, I had a dream. It was a recurring dream. I called it my equality dream. I dreamed of equality for Aboriginal Australians. I dreamed of greater equality for women. I dreamed of equality for people of different skin colour. I dreamed of an end to 'White Australia'. I dreamed of equality for people with disabilities. And I dreamed for equality for myself and all gay people. These dreams propelled me into civil society and lots of pro bono legal cases. None of those dreams has been entirely fulfilled. But it is people who have shared the dreams and then rolled up their sleeves and acted in pursuit who have helped to make parts of the dream come true. Today, I believe we should all search for love and hap- piness. We should all look for the meaning of life. And Alternative Low journal 2017, Vol. 42(1) 3 @ The Author(s) 2017 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.ukl/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1 177/1037969XI7698316 http://journals.sagepub.com/altlj *SAGE above all, every one of us should have a dream. A dream of a better world. A dream of justice for the disadvantaged. In my earlier Opinion, 17 years ago, I spoke of the need to preserve and extend our freedoms. As we did then, we now continue to take encouragement from the diversity of viewpoints expressed in our society and the way our Constitution defends our right to express them. Then, as now, I spoke of the need for Australians to preserve and extend these features of freedom. But today, we must continue to do better in our national commitment to uphold the human rights of all. To dream about equality and justice. And to spend our lives making those dreams come true. At that time, I said that the Alternative Law Journal was a useful antidote to legal complacency. That has never been more true, and this edition is no exception. Journals like this need the continued support of the judi- ciary, the legal profession and the academy. I love my Alt LJ. The Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG, justice of the High Court of Australia (1996-2009).

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