Charles Christian Waterstreet (born 17 July 1950) is an Australian former barrister, author, and theatre and film producer. He has written two memoirs and produced two films, and he is now a columnist for ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' after the

NSW Bar Association The New South Wales Bar Association is a professional body of lawyers responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The body administers the bar examination in accordance with the Legal Profe ...

cancelled his practising certificate. He is known as one of the co-creators of the ABC Television series '' Rake''."Nothing But The Truth – Transcript"
''

Australian Story ''Australian Story'' is a national weekly current affairs and documentary style television series which is broadcast on ABC Television. It is produced specifically by the ABC News and Current Affairs Department. The program first aired on 29 ...

'' presented by

Rachel Ward Rachel Claire Ward (born 12 September 1957) is an English-Australian

, 3 March 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2013 However, co-creator and actor

Richard Roxburgh Richard Roxburgh (born 23 January 1962) is an Australian actor, writer, producer, and director. He is the recipient of a number of accolades across film, television, and theatre, including three AACTA Awards (including AFI), three Logie Awards, ...

asserted in 2017 that Waterstreet had only contributed one idea to a single episode.

Early life and education

and the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...

where he earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in English, History and Political Science in 1971, and a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

in 1974. During his time at university, he resided at St John's College and later at St Andrew's College.

Career

Legal career

Waterstreet began his career teaching public law at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...

from 1974 to 1978. In 1974, he was admitted to the bar and practised part-time, defending people charged with protest and homosexuality offences., ''

The Monthly ''The Monthly'' is an Australian national magazine of politics, society and the arts, which is published eleven times per year on a monthly basis except the December/January issue. Founded in 2005, it is published by Melbourne property developer ...

'', 7 December 2016 He practised as a barrister, mainly in criminal law, at Forbes Chambers in Sydney until July 2016.

Arts career

Waterstreet is a theatre and film producer. In 1986, he produced ''

Howling III ''Howling III'' (also known as ''Howling III: The Marsupials'' and ''The Marsupials: The Howling III'') is a 1987 Australian horror film and the sequel to '' The Howling'', directed by Philippe Mora and filmed on location in and around Sydney, ...

'' and in 1990 he produced '' Blood Oath''. Along with

and Peter Duncan, he is a co-creator of the ABC TV series '' Rake''. In 2019, Council of The New South Wales Bar Association cancelled his Practising Certificate finding that his actions resulted in Unsatisfactory Professional Conduct. He began a theatrical career in producing the hit ''Boys Own '' with

Grahame Bond Grahame John Bond AM (born 21 November 1943) is an Australian actor, writer, director, musician and composer, known primarily for his role as Aunty Jack. Early career Bond began his career in entertainment at University of Sydney in the 1960s ...

( Aunty Jack) from 1979 which ran for nearly three years; it played in Los Angeles with an all-Australian cast. In film he co-produced ''The Marsupials – The

'' with director

Philippe Mora Philippe Mora (born 1949) is a French Australian film director. Early life and career Philippe Mora was born in Paris, France in 1949, and grew up at the centre of the Australian arts scene of the 1950s and began making films with an 8mm camera ...

. In 1990 he produced the highly respected '' Blood Oath'' which starred

Bryan Brown Bryan Neathway Brown AM (born 23 June 1947) is an Australian actor. He has performed in over eighty film and television projects since the late 1970s, both in his native Australia and abroad. Notable films include '' Breaker Morant'' (1980), ...

, Russell Crowe and

Deborah Kara Unger Deborah Kara Unger (born 12 May 1966) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles in the films '' Highlander III: The Sorcerer'' (1994), ''Crash'' (1996), '' The Game'' (1997), '' Payback'' (1999), '' The Hurricane'' (1999), ''White Noise ...

. The film was successfully released in Japanese theatres in April 1991 and in the United States in June of that year. It was shown at the celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the

Geneva Convention upright=1.15, Original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term ''Geneva Conve ...

on 12 August 1999 in Moscow to highlight aspects of international humanitarian law. Waterstreet has been a member of the

Aspen FilmFest Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the ''Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *''Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China, ...

Advisory Committee since 1993. In 1996, he produced ''Next to Nothing'' with

TCN9 TCN is the flagship television station of the Nine Network in Australia. The station is currently located at 1 Denison Street, North Sydney. The licence, issued to a company named Television Corporation Ltd headed by Sir Frank Packer, was one o ...

and Mushroom Pictures. He is the author of ''Precious Bodily Fluids: A Larrikin's Memoir'' (Hodder Headline Australia and UK, 1998), which was re-issued by Hachette in 2008 as an Australian classic, and its sequel, ''Repeating the Leaving'' (Hodder Headline Australia, 2001). He is currently writing his third autobiography, ''Rake Man''. Waterstreet's legal publications include: * "Tricks of Memory" – for the Medico-Legal Society of New South Wales, 12 June 1996 * "Inner child is at the mercy of the memory 'therapists'" – review of Richard Guilliatt's book, ''Talk of the Devil'' – ''

'', 2 November 1996 * "Down False Memory Lane – Aspects of Current Law in New South Wales" – Crown Prosecutor's Annual Conference, 15 April 1998 * "Recovered Memory Syndrome – Remembrance of Things Past" – LAAMS Seminar: ''States of Mind: Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology for Family & Criminal Lawyers'', 1 July 1998 * ''Law for the Public'' (contributor) – published by Penguin He is also a regular columnist for ''

The Sun-Herald ''The Sun-Herald'' is an Australian newspaper published in tabloid or compact format on Sundays in Sydney by Nine Publishing. It is the Sunday counterpart of ''The Sydney Morning Herald''. In the 6 months to September 2005, ''The Sun-Herald'' ...

'' where he has a weekly feature article in the "Extra" section named "Waterstreetlife". On 12 May 2013 he published an article in the ''Sydney Morning Herald'' titled "A Mother's Tale of Heartache", in which he argued that a man convicted of being a ringleader in the gang rapes of seven under-age girls and women in Sydney in 2000 should be released early because of his ethnic background. He was widely condemned for this. Newcastle artist

Nigel Milsom Nigel Milsom is an Australian painter. Early life Milsom was born in 1975 in the southern New South Wales city of Albury. He completed a Bachelor of Arts (Visual Arts) at the University of Newcastle in 1998, and then undertook postgraduate st ...

won his first

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, the editor ...

in 2015 for his portrait of Charles Waterstreet, the artist's former defence lawyer.

Personal life

Waterstreet was married to a woman called Fiona and they had a son, Harry. Both now live in the US and Waterstreet maintains contact with them. Waterstreet had been romantically linked to actress

Kate Fitzpatrick Kerry Kathleen Fitzpatrick (born 1 October 1947) known as Kate Fitzpatrick, is an Australian television, film, and theatre actress. Early years Kate grew up in the Adelaide suburb of Dover Gardens, and it was in Adelaide that her love for cl ...

. He also dated journalist Gretel Killeen for a short time, and the two remain close friends. In October 2017, Waterstreet was accused of sexually harassing law student Tina Ni Huang during a job interview in August 2017. He has since denied these accusations.

Notable cases

Over the course of his career, Waterstreet has appeared as counsel in many high-profile criminal and civil cases in all courts in New South Wales, as well as the High Court of Australia, including social security, murder, drug, sexual assault,

false memory In psychology, a false memory is a phenomenon where someone recalls something that did not happen or recalls it differently from the way it actually happened. Suggestibility, activation of associated information, the incorporation of misinformat ...

and terrorism trials. He has also appeared in cases in Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory and Vanuatu at various times in his career. Some of his more prominent cases include: * '' R v Barton'' (1978) * ''The Greek Social Security Case'' (1978–1982) * ''R v Miller'' (1983) (prosecutor) * ''R v English'' (1987) * ''R v Adam'' (1999) * ''O'Halloran v The Queen'' (2001, HCA) * ''Chung v The Queen'' (2001, HCA) * ''Glossop v The Queen'' (2002, HCA) * ''R v El-Azzi'' (2004) * ''R v Baladjam & Ors'' (2008–09) * ''Lange v Back & Schwartz'' (2009) * ''Jedah Jodeh v The Queen'' (2011) * ''R v Michael Anthony Ryan'' (2012) * ''R v Khazaal'' (2012, HCA) * ''R v Rogerson & McNamara'' (2015) * ''R v Murphy (aka The Wolf)'' (2016–18) * ''R v Amati'' (2018)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Waterstreet, Charles 1950 births Australian barristers Australian film producers Australian theatre managers and producers Australian writers Living people People from Albury, New South Wales Sydney Law School alumni University of Sydney alumni