Print PageOne of the most high-profile and controversial magistrates in New South Wales has ended her career on the bench.
Magistrate Pat O'Shane finished her career on a subdued note in a civil case in Sydney's Downing Centre involving a local council.
Ms O'Shane, who was the first Indigenous person to graduate university in law in Australia, is now on leave until her official retirement in June.
Overshadowing her retirement is a determination from the judicial commission on its inquiry into several of her decisions.
The inquiry was prompted by Premier Barry O'Farrell early last year after Ms O'Shane dismissed charges against a man who assaulted a paramedic.
Ms O'Shane asked the ambulance officer, Christopher Martin, about his evidence that he had called the man a "filthy pig".
"Would the court be correct in inferring, Mr Martin, that you don't like blacks?" she asked.
"No," Mr Martin replied.
"Are you sure about that?" Ms O'Shane said in court.
"I'm positive," he said.
She concluded that the paramedic had initiated the "physical interaction".
That decision was later overturned by the Supreme Court.
Ms O'Shane was also the first woman to permanently head a ministry when she took charge of Aboriginal Affairs in New South Wales in 1981.
