The Royal Commission has also appointed a new Commissioner to join Commissioners Richard Tracey and Lynelle Briggs – the Hon Gaetano (Tony) Pagone, 63, a former Federal Court Judge who retired last year after five years of service between 2013 and 2018.
A specialist in Taxation Law and lecturer at Monash University and Melbourne Law School, Mr Pagone became a Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria in 2001 aged 46 – the youngest person to be appointed at that time – but quit after nine months to become the first Special Counsel to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) between 2002 and 2004.
Returning to the Bar in 2004, Mr Pagone rejoined the Victorian Supreme Court in 2007 and has also served on the Victorian Council of Civil Liberties; the Victorian Equal Opportunity Board; the Victorian Executive Committee of Amnesty International; the Luke Batty Foundation, the foundation set up by Rosie Batty to advocate against family violence; and the Alan Missen Foundation set up in 1988 to honour the late Liberal Senator and his dedication to individual human rights and civil liberties.
Clearly Mr Pagone has a strong interest in social justice – what will he make then of the evidence coming out of the Royal Commission?
