Sir William John Francis Kearney, CBE[1] (born 8 January 1935) is a retired Australian judge who served on the supreme courts of Papua New Guinea and the Northern Territory in Australia.
[3] He was an official member of the House of Assembly of Papua and New Guinea and Executive Council from 1972 to 1973 and the Secretary of Law from 1972 to 1975.
In 1976 he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), on the recommendation of the Papua New Guinea government, for his services to the law in that country.
[9] At the time of his retirement, he was the third-longest serving resident judge on the Northern Territory's Supreme Court.
[11] Kearney married Jessie, a social worker and President of the Australia China Friendship Society.