Ah, transparency. It’s a concept the Victorian judiciary has sometimes struggled with, as shown again recently by the Judicial Commission of Victoria.

Last month, the commission (which handles complaints against judges) disclosed an adverse finding against a magistrate over comments made in a courtroom to a protester facing charges. However, the finding did not name the magistrate, nor did it detail exactly what was said.

Instead, we were told vaguely that a magistrate referenced “specific atrocities connected with a terrorist attack” and “drew a comparison between the accused and certain historical authoritarian leaders that analogised the accused’s intention, motivation and commitment”.

The commission found these comments were variously “gratuitous”, “inappropriate”, “unnecessary”, “offensive”, “inflammatory” and “lacked neutrality”.

You’d think the public had a right to know which powerful judicial officer had put together that unflattering combo – but the commission disagreed when we asked, pointing to its statutory disclosure considerations. Top of that list is “ensuring a transparent and accountable process”. Go figure.

Nevertheless, we pressed on and heard from three sources unauthorised to be identified publicly that magistrate Peter Reardon was the subject of the complaint.

Exactly what was said cannot be confirmed (more on that shortly), but two of our sources said Reardon had told the anti-war protester who disrupted road access to a major event that – if he had it his way – they’d be forced to watch videos of rape and beheading from Hamas’ October 7 terrorist attacks as punishment.

He also allegedly remarked that the protester’s mindset reminded him of despots like Adolf Hitler.

Reardon defended his remarks, telling the commission, according to its statement, they didn’t reflect any bias. Instead, he said they helped the accused and public understand his sentencing reasons, and the reference to dictators wasn’t an attempt at equivalence but merely “put the relevant issues into historical perspective”.

Meanwhile, the protester who copped the rant told CBD: “The judge [sic] shocked me with his demeaning comments.”

The Age submitted the standard application for a recording of the relevant hearing to confirm what had happened, but it was denied by Chief Magistrate Lisa Hannan in a potential administrative speed record of just five days. (For comparison, similar media applications for recordings of run-of-the-mill hearings can take 10 to 12 weeks or more to be approved and processed.)

“The chief magistrate did not provide specific reasons for the refusal,” CBD was told.

The commission declined to disclose more information about the finding against Reardon, as did the community legal centre that represented the protester in court and made the complaint. The Magistrates’ Court itself would confirm only that the commission’s recommendations were being implemented.

For remarks that “infringed on the conduct generally expected by judicial officers”, Reardon was told to attend a “judicial education event” within the next year. Chief Magistrate Hannan was also told to counsel him.

Reardon did not respond to questions sent to him via the Magistrates’ Court media department last week, or attempts to contact him directly.

Liquidators’ show kicks off

Roll up! Roll up! The greatest liquidators’ show in business circles is about to start, with the star of the show, Jon Adgemis, set to take centre stage on day one of Federal Court proceedings in Sydney on Thursday.

The liquidators’ examination of the spectacular collapse of Adgemis’ pub empire is set to unpick the complex financial arrangements behind a slew of companies in the wake of his bankruptcy declaration last October amid debts of more than $1.8 billion.

BRI Ferrier liquidators Peter Krejci and John Keenan were appointed a year ago following a wind-up petition from the Tax Office, and what amounts to more than $3 million owing in taxes by those companies alone.

Also subject to the Federal Court orders in the examination are a roll-call of Adgemis’ associates, lenders and even ex-girlfriend model Cheyenne Tozzi. Joining Tozzi is billionaire Alex Waislitz, Adgemis’ former CFO and Woollahra councillor Alexander Andruska, prominent racehorse owner and MaxCap founder Brae Sokolski, music pioneer Tom Misner, and Adgemis’ former business partner Ben Madsen.

Businessman Richard Gazal is also on the list, having tried to bankrupt Adgemis over a $26 million debt in 2024 before he was substituted out by the tax man given the latter’s $161 million claim on his affairs.

While Sydney-based, Adgemis was no stranger to the Melbourne business and social set. His company investments included three Melbourne pubs – in Kew, Collingwood and St Kilda – and he was a semiregular among the fly-in, fly-out heavy-hitter crowd in the Flemington Birdcage on Victoria Derby Day. Also, at one stage, he had well-connected Melbourne-based former Crown Resorts executive Peter Crinis among his employees.

Adgemis has been lying low-ish in the wake of the collapse of his hospitality empire, but locals still see the well-coiffed former KPMG executive around Sydney’s Bondi Beach.