A Whangarei-born lawyer who recently became a Queen's Counsel has also become one of the country's last QCs. Harry Waalkens was born in Whangarei Hospital in 1955 and raised at Maromaku, north of Whangarei, and Taipuha, near Waipu. He was among the last four New Zealand lawyers to be made QCs asthis is the last year they will be appointed. The new Law Practitioners Act, about to be passed into law, will remove this office. The rank will be replaced by Senior Counsel, who may be appointed by the Law Society rather than by the Crown (Attorney General/Governor General on behalf of The Queen). Mr Waalkens said he was pleased with his appointment but saddened that he will be one of the country's last. The Auckland District Law Society said Mr Waalkens was believed to be the only Northland-born lawyer who is a QC. Mr Waalkens, who practises in Auckland, attended Taipuha Primary School and was an inaugural student at Otamatea High School in Maungaturoto before attending boarding school in Auckland. Taipuha school closed this year after its roll fell to five students. Mr Waalkens graduated with B.Com LLB law degree from Auckland University in 1980 and was a Crown Prosecutor in Tonga for a couple of years. He was a partner in law firm Bell Gully Buddle Weir in Auckland for eight years and since February 1994 has been independent.
