"Hi, mummy."
The spontaneous words of a joyful young daughter evoked laughter from a typically silent ACT courtroom on Wednesday.
They were directed at the territory's newest magistrate, Alexandra Burt, on the day of her official swearing in.
Formally a Victorian magistrate, Ms Burt comes to the ACT with 18 years of experience in criminal and administrative law, including time as a Commonwealth prosecutor, with Legal Aid, and with the Victorian Mental Health Tribunal.
"Our court will certainly benefit from that experience," Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury said on Wednesday morning.
The courtroom also heard the former barrister had worked in multiple women's refuges and even had a "short stint on community radio".
Ms Burt's appointment, after a "competitive recruitment process", was described as "somewhat of a homecoming" for the territory's newest judicial officer.
She went to school in the ACT and studied at the Australian National University, before she would eventually be appointed as a magistrate in Victoria.
Ms Burt recalled one of the regional courtrooms she presided over near Shepparton was forced to choose between the heat and electricity for computers.
"I still think they made the wrong choice," she said.
Already dealing with bail applications and sentencings to start the year in the ACT, her new jurisdiction, Ms Burt extended her gratitude "in advance" to lawyers.
"For your polite patience in answering my questions from the bench," she said.
She also thanked her associate, "who brings knowledge to the court and hasn't quit yet".
"It is a privilege to serve the community in this role and I will endeavour to do so in a way where people are treated with respect," the magistrate said.
Ms Burt ended her speech, which she purposefully kept brief to return the courtroom to Chief Justice Lucy McCallum, by thanking her family.
"Thank you for being so brave when mummy goes to work," she told her three young children.
"I'm very proud of you all."
