(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4858385&forum_id=2#42638276)

fucking boomer salary as a MAGISRATE in fuckville. incredible

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4858385&forum_id=2#42642090)

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9704985/Outraged-Australians-sign-petition-demanding-court-award-mother-court-clerk-180-000-super.html

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4858385&forum_id=2#42661523)

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/ex-magistrate-rodney-higgins-breaks-silence-on-relationship-with-court-clerk-20210808-p58gvq.html

Ex-magistrate Rodney Higgins breaks silence on relationship with court clerk

Tammy Mills

By Tammy Mills

August 8, 2021 — 7.34pm

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Former Victorian magistrate Rodney Higgins has broken his silence about his relationship with a court clerk 45 years his junior, saying he deserves a portion of her superannuation death benefit.

Mr Higgins, who retired recently, claimed in an interview to be aired on A Current Affair on Monday night that authorities thought he deserved all of Ashleigh Petrie’s $180,000 payout.

Ashleigh Petrie with Rodney Higgins.

Ashleigh Petrie with Rodney Higgins.CREDIT:INSTAGRAM

“They think I deserve 100 per cent of it,” he said.

He told reporter Alexis Daish that as Ms Petrie’s fiance at the time of her death, Rest Superannuation decided the benefit would go to him in its entirety. Before her death, Ms Petrie nominated her mother as the beneficiary of her superannuation and life insurance.

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A coronial report found Ms Petrie, 23, died after she ran in front of a car in Metung, in Gippsland, in the early hours of October 28, 2019.

Her death came after the court clerk’s relationship with Mr Higgins, who was then a magistrate, was made public by The Herald Sun, and sparked questions about power and workplace culture in the court.

“I just am sorry that a lot of people have been hurt out of this,” Mr Higgins told A Current Affair.

Mr Higgins, who got back together with his former partner months after Ms Petrie’s death, admitted it was unusual for a man of his age to “be with a young girl of Ashleigh’s age”. But the retired magistrate, who was 68 when he was with Ms Petrie, defended their relationship.

“The impression, if you like, was Ashleigh worked with me in court, and that I had some sort of hold on her,” he said.

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One of the photos Ashleigh posted to her social media account, where she documented her relationship with Higgins.

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“That’s completely untrue, we never, ever worked together.”

The Age revealed in June that Mr Higgins had claimed Ms Petrie’s superannuation death benefit despite her wishes that it should go to her mother.

Under the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act, a beneficiary must be a “dependant”, which includes a de facto partner.

Mr Higgins claimed he rang the superannuation company to tell it Ms Petrie had died after his work told him to.

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“I did that, they said, ‘What’s your relationship to her?’ I said, ‘I’m her fiance, we live together.’ They said, ‘We will send you paperwork, fill it out and send it back.’ And that was it,” he said.

Ms Petrie’s mother has appealed against the decision for the money to go to Mr Higgins, who earned $324,000 following his appointment to the bench in September 2017.

Asked if the death benefit should have been shared, Mr Higgins said: “In some proportion, yes.”

Asked if he was digging his heels in because he claims Ms Petrie’s family has frozen him out, he replied that he did not like the manner that Ms Petrie’s mother’s solicitor had taken.

The interview airs at 7pm on Monday on Channel Nine, which owns The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4858385&forum_id=2#42915084)