David Russell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 2 December 1950 Dalby, Queensland |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Political party | Liberal National Party |
| Spouse(s) | Deborah Russell† (1975–2011) |
| Alma mater | University of Queensland (BA, LL.B., LL.M.) |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Website | www.davidrussellqc.com |
David Graham Russell, AM , RFD , KC (born 2 December 1950) is an Australian barrister who specialises in international tax law.
David Russell was born in the town of Dalby in Queensland as the second son of Charles Wilfred Russell MP and Hilary Maude Russell (née Newton), subsequently H M Russell OBE. He attended Jimbour State School from 1956 to 1960, after which he attended Anglican Church Grammar School in Brisbane from 1961 to 1967. His university years were spent at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in 1971, his Bachelor of Laws in 1974, and finally his Master of Laws in 1983.
Russell was admitted as a solicitor in Queensland in 1974, and was called to the Bar in 1977. He is admitted to practise in Australia, England and Wales (where he is a member of Lincoln's Inn), the Courts of the Dubai International Financial Centre, New York (as a legal consultant), New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. He was appointed Queen's Counsel in Australia in 1986.
He currently practises in Dubai and London at Outer Temple Chambers, [1] Sydney at Ground Floor Wentworth Chambers [2] and Brisbane at Sir Harry Gibbs Chambers, [3]
He has acted for Commonwealth and State Governments as well as individuals and corporations.
Russell was President of the Taxation Institute of Australia [4] from 1993 to 1995, [5] and of the Asia Oceania Tax Consultants' Association from 1996 to 2000. [6] He is a member of the Law Council of Australia Business Law Section Taxation Committee. He served as a member of the Ministerial Consultative Committee for the Tax Law Improvement Project from 1994 to 1997 and as a member of the Steering Committee for the National Review of Standards for the Tax Profession in 1993 and 1994. From 1991 to 1995 he was a member of the National Tax Liaison Group.
David Russell has lectured and written extensively on taxation related topics in Australia and overseas, and served as a member of the Advisory Editorial Board of Australian Tax Practice. He has lectured at the University of Sydney for the Master of Taxation course, [7] [8] the University of Queensland for the Master of Laws course and served as an adjunct professor of the University of Queensland. [9] [10] He was the Australian correspondent for Oxford University Press's academic journal Trusts & Trustees . [11] and is now one of its co-editors.
He was Chairman of STEP Australia, [12] a member of the STEP World Wide Council until 2018. Deputy Chair of STEP WorldWide in 2018 and 2019 and a member of STEP's Professional Standards and Public Policy Committees [13] and the Committee of the STEP Contentious Trusts & Estates Special Interest Group, [14] a co-chair of the United Arab Emirates Chapter of the International Section of the New York State Bar Association, [15] and a member of the Executive Committee of the Section, an Academician of The International Academy of Estate and Trust Law, [16] a member of The Worshipful Company of Tax Advisers, a member of The Commercial Bar Association, an Honorary Member of The Taxation Institute of Hong Kong, a Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (UK) and a Freeman of the City of London.
Russell is listed in the Taxation Category in the Australian Financial Review's Best Lawyers review of the Australian Legal Profession in 2008 and all later years. [17] In 2012, he was made a Member of the Order of Australia for, amongst other things, "service … to taxation law and legal education". [18] [19] In 2014 he was awarded Chartered Tax Adviser of the Year. [20] [21] Since 2017 he has been a member of Legal Week's Private Client Clobal Elite [url=https://privateclientglobalelite.com].
From 2016 to 2018 he chaired the DIFC's Wealth Management Review, and is Executive Editor of the Laws of the DIFC [ref=https://academy.difc.ae/publication/laws-difc-volume-1/].
Yet there is someone else whose role in conceiving of the new party should also be acknowledged: my colleague David Russell QC, for whom the fusion of the Liberal and National parties in Queensland, to create what we might describe as ‘Liberalism with Queensland characteristics’, has been a life-work.
George Brandis QC, The Spectator , 31 March 2012 [22]
David Russell served continuously on the State Executive of the Liberal National Party of Queensland and its predecessor party, the National Party of Australia — Queensland from 1984 to 2014 apart from six months in 2008–2009. He was President of the National Party in Queensland from 1995 to 1999, Vice-President of the National Party of Australia from 1990 to 1995, and 1999 to 2005, [23] and President of the National Party of Australia from 2005 to 2006. [19] He played a significant part in the merger of the National and Liberal Parties in Queensland in 2008, [24] [25] and was Vice-President of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2009 to 2011. [26]
Outside the law, David Russell maintains his interest in his family's rural business, Russell Pastoral Company, [27] [28] and its flagship property, Jimbour Station in Jimbour, Queensland. [29] [30]
He served as President of the Australia-Japan Society in Queensland [31] from 1997 to 2002, and as inaugural President of the National Federation of Australia Japan Societies from 2001 to 2005. [32] [33] In 2010 he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun with Gold Rays and Neck Ribbon for services to Australia–Japan relations. [34] [35] [36]
David Russell married Deborah Ann Campbell on 19 September 1975. Deborah was the daughter of The Hon. Sir Walter Benjamin Campbell AC QC and Georgina Margaret Campbell (née Pearce). They have one son, Andrew Russell.
Ian David Francis Callinan AC KC is a former Justice of the High Court of Australia, the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy.
Alexander Charles Carlile, Baron Carlile of Berriew, is a British barrister and crossbench member of the House of Lords. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Montgomeryshire from 1983 to 1997.
Sir Garfield Edward John Barwick, was an Australian judge who was the seventh and longest serving Chief Justice of Australia, in office from 1964 to 1981. He had earlier been a Liberal Party politician, serving as a minister in the Menzies government from 1958 to 1964.
Sir Francis Gerard Brennan was an Australian lawyer and jurist who served as the 10th Chief Justice of Australia. As a judge in the High Court of Australia, he wrote the lead judgement on the Mabo decision, which gave rise to the Native Title Act.
Sir Harry Talbot Gibbs, was Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia from 1981 to 1987 after serving as a member of the High Court between 1970 and 1981. He was known as one of Australia's leading federalist judges although he presided over the High Court when decisions such as Koowarta v Bjelke-Petersen in 1982 and Commonwealth v Tasmania expanded the powers of the Commonwealth at the expense of the states. Gibbs dissented from the majority verdict in both cases. On 3 August 2012, the Supreme Court of Queensland Library opened the Sir Harry Gibbs Legal Heritage Centre. It is the only legal heritage museum of its kind in Queensland and features a permanent exhibition dedicated to the life and legacy of Sir Harry Gibbs.
Michael John Ahern is a former Queensland National Party politician who was Premier of Queensland from December 1987 to September 1989. After a long career in the government of Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Ahern became his successor amid the controversy caused by the Fitzgerald Inquiry into official corruption. Ahern's consensus style and political moderation contrasted strongly with Bjelke-Petersen's leadership, but he could not escape the division and strife caused by his predecessor's downfall.
The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is a special economic zone in Dubai covering 110 ha, established in 2004 as a financial hub for companies operating throughout the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) markets. DIFC is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority, an independent regulator exclusive to the zone, and by its own court system, DIFC Courts, separate from the Emirate of Dubai's legal system and that of the federal government of the UAE. DIFC follows the common law framework and operates in English. The freezone houses financial institutions, and wealth funds in addition to retail and hotel space dedicated to the freezone.
Sir David Alexander Ogilvy Edward is a Scottish lawyer and academic, and former Judge of the Court of Justice of the European Communities. Edward is an Honorary Fellow of University College, Oxford; Honorary Professor of the University of Edinburgh and Fellow of The Royal Society of Edinburgh. He is also an Honorary Sheriff of the Sheriffdom of Tayside, Central and Fife at Perth, Scotland.
Peter William Hendy is a former Australian politician. He was the Liberal member representing the Australian House of Representatives seat of Eden-Monaro in New South Wales from 2013 to 2016. Hendy served as Assistant Minister for Productivity in the First Turnbull Ministry between September 2015 and February 2016; and as Assistant Cabinet Secretary and Assistant Minister to the Minister for Finance from February 2016. Hendy lost his seat in the 2016 federal election to Labor candidate Mike Kelly.
David John Bradbury is a former Australian politician. He was a Labor member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the Division of Lindsay, in New South Wales, from 2007 until 2013. Bradbury was the Minister for Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs, Assistant Treasurer, Minister Assisting for Financial Services and Superannuation, and Minister Assisting for Deregulation. He is currently the Head of Tax Policy and Statistics at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Centre For Tax Policy and Administration.
Gregory Reginald James is a former Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.
Charles Wilfred Russell was an Australian politician, pastoralist and right wing activist who served briefly in both the Queensland and federal parliaments. Initially a member of the Country Party, he later became one of its key critics and campaigned actively against it in the 1950s and 1960s. His successful court action invalidating the Queensland government's stock levy in 1977, in the last year of his life, was one of his most significant achievements.
Joshua Thomas Bell was an Australian barrister and politician.
Sir Robert Stanley Chambers was a judge of the Supreme Court of New Zealand.
Simon Molesworth AO, KC is an Australian barrister, environmentalist and diplomat. With an experience extending over 35 years of community leadership and corporate governance, Molesworth has been a director of some 22 corporations and chairman or president of 14.
Wilfred Adams Russell, was an Australian politician. He was a Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly.
Alfred Martin Daubney was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 2007. He is an honorary fellow of the Australian Catholic University, a member of the Senate of the University of Queensland, and is President of the King’s College council at the University of Queensland. In July 2021 he was appointed Chancellor of the Australian Catholic University and will take up the position in January 2022.
Sir Charles Gray Wanstall was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. He was also the Chief Justice of Queensland.
Deborah Anne, Lady Chambers is a New Zealand King's Counsel specialising in relationship property and trusts law. She was married to the New Zealand Supreme Court judge, Sir Robert Chambers from 2004 until his death in 2013.
Simon Harry Peter Steward is an Australian judge and former barrister currently serving as a Justice of the High Court of Australia. He was previously a judge of the Federal Court of Australia from 2018 until his appointment to the High Court.
