The Best CWLA Conference Yet

06 Nov 2015

By Vivienne Wilson

CWLA committee member

Spellbound, inspired, and engerised would be apt words to describe the attendees at the recent Professional Women’s Conference hosted by the Canterbury Women’s Legal Association in Christchurch on 9 October 2015. The Conference was sponsored by Anthony Harper, Baldwins, Buddle Findlay, Chapman Tripp, Craigs’ Investment Partners, Duncan Cotterill, Harmans, The Law Foundation, and Simpson Grierson. A big thank you to those organisations for their support this year.

The Honourable Justice Rachel Dunningham opened the Conference and set the tone for the rest of the afternoon.

The first speaker was Rabia Siddique, and the audience was captivated during her hour long presentation. Rabia is a criminal and human rights lawyer, a muslim, a retired British Army Officer, a former terrorism and war crimes prosecutor, published author[1] and mother of triplets (3 boys). While she laughed off rumours that Angelina Jolie might be portraying her in a possible upcoming movie, it doesn’t take much to see why filmmakers should be clamouring to make a movie of her story.

Rabia traced her upbringing (initially in India and then in Perth) and the life changing event that happened in Perth when she was sexually abused as a child by a neighbour. She later attended Penrhos College and studied law at the University of Western Australia. She threw herself into her studies and following her graduation became a federal prosecutor. In the back of her mind was the dream to become a war prosecutor. By her mid-twenties and looking for another challenge she decided to travel to the UK. She subsequently applied for the British Army. This was one step on the road to achieving her goal of working in international humanitarian law.   Her military training complete she was posted to Northern Ireland as a legal officer.   Move forward to 2005, and Rabia Siddique was told that she is to be posted to Basra, Iraq. The British Army were trying to re-establish the rule of law.

Rabia said that she tried to prepare as best she could for this posting by learning Arabic, attending a mosque, and familiarising herself with the customs of the area. Once in Basra she set about trying to form cordial relations with the various factions. She worked hard at this and she became well known and trusted by local judges.

However, in September 2005 there is another of those life changing events. Two British SAS soldiers were captured and held prisoner in the notorious Jamiat compound (probably the most dangerous place in Basra). Eventually the Iraqis asked for Rabia Siddique, and she was flown into the compound, with another British officer, to try and negotiate their release. Rabia made it clear during her presentation that she was not a trained negotiator but she used all her legal skills and military training to get to a position where she thought the British soldiers would be freed. This is until crowds started rioting outside the compound having been told that the captured soldiers were Israeli spies. Suddenly, Rabia was now a prisoner and faced a number of life and death moments before the British Army subsequently rescued her and the other soldiers. After their rescue, Rabia is treated quite differently from the other soldiers. She is given a kiss on the cheek and told to go and have a cup of tea. The other male soldiers are formally debriefed.

When Rabia returned to the UK in late 2005, one of the soldiers involved in the Jamiat incident was awarded a Military Cross but her actions were not recognised or recorded. Eventually Rabia decided that she needed to remain true to her values and she brought a personal grievance against the Army for sexual discrimination. The Army settled the case before it went to Court.

Throughout her presentation, there were a number of key messages which kept reoccurring later in the afternoon with the other speakers. These messages were –

• The importance of education.
• Every so often there are going to be life changing moments.
• Stay true to your values when you are tested in those life changing moments.

The next speaker was Helen Cull QC, who was the MC for this event in 2013 and 2014. Helen’s presentation was called “Are we being heard?”, and drew on her experiences to date with women in the profession. Helen offered some very helpful tools for making sure that women (and young lawyers) are being heard in court, in meetings, and at the firm. An entertaining part of her presentation was the reference to vocal fry, and the video clip. Helen’s message was “don’t do it”, especially in Court!

Julia Batchelor-Smith spoke directly after Helen Cull QC. The focus of Julia’s presentation was balancing work and life and reframing the work/life balance. Julia is a Senior Associate in the Auckland Office of Minter Ellison Rudd Watts. Julia also provided some helpful tips for prioritising your workload, overcoming procrastination and building resilience. Julia left the audience with the thought that you can have it all, you just need to know what “it all” looks like.

The last two speakers for the conference were Jacinda Ardern and Kathryn Wilson. Called “into the Bear Pit,” Jacinda Ardern also shared with the audience her life journey to date. This traversed growing up in Murupara and Morrinsville, University study, working in the offices of Phil Goff and Helen Clark, her presidency of the International Union of Socialist Youth, and most recently as a Labour list MP. Jacinda also emphasised remaining true to your values and bringing your own characteristics to your role. As she explained, in politics, she is more interested “in finding the last brick to go into the bridge so that we can all go over the bridge together”.

Kathryn Wilson was the final speaker for the afternoon and no one could doubt her passion for shoes! At least 80 pairs line her shoe wall in her house, and the shoes are regularly rotated. Kathryn explained how she started from scratch, beginning with winning an AMP Scholarship for $5,000. She spoke about the importance and support of her biggest fan – her mother, the wisdom of her business partner, and her drive to succeed and not give up. As her mother said “Choose a job you love, and you never have to work a day in your life.”

Following Kathryn Wilson, the Conference concluded with cocktails and a final chance to catch up with professional women from all walks of life.  

Thank you to Judge Jane Farish who was the MC for the Conference, and provided some insightful learnings along the way.

No conference is complete without the goody bags or the speakers’ gifts. A big thank you to the goody bag and speakers’ gifts sponsors being Baldwins, Dulux, Linden Leaves, Starworks Design, Mindfood Magazine, Thomson Reuters NZ, Untouched World, and Yazu Hair Lounge.

A future committee member in attendance:

[1] See Equal Justice by Rabia Siddique, published by Macmillan 2013.

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