Bob Ellicott
Bob Ellicott | |
---|---|
Judge of theFederal Court of Australia | |
In office 2 March 1981 – 24 February 1983 | |
Minister for Home Affairs and the Environment | |
In office 3 November 1980 – 17 February 1981 | |
Prime Minister | Malcolm Fraser |
Preceded by | Himself (Home Affairs) David Thomson(Environment) |
Succeeded by | Michael MacKellar |
Minister for Home Affairs | |
In office 20 December 1977 – 3 November 1980 | |
Prime Minister | Malcolm Fraser |
Preceded by | New position |
Succeeded by | Himself |
Minister for the Capital Territory | |
In office 20 December 1977 – 3 November 1980 | |
Prime Minister | Malcolm Fraser |
Preceded by | Tony Staley |
Succeeded by | Michael Hodgman |
Attorney-General of Australia | |
In office 22 December 1975 – 6 September 1977 | |
Prime Minister | Malcolm Fraser |
Preceded by | Kep Enderby |
Succeeded by | Peter Durack |
Member of theAustralian Parliament forWentworth | |
In office 18 May 1974 – 17 February 1981 | |
Preceded by | Les Bury |
Succeeded by | Peter Coleman |
Personal details | |
Born | Moree, New South Wales,Australia | 15 April 1927
Died | 31 October 2022 | (aged 95)
Political party | Liberal |
Occupation | Barrister |
Robert James Ellicott,AC,KC(15 April 1927 – 31 October 2022) was an Australian barrister, politician and judge. He served asSolicitor-General of Australia(1969–1973) before entering theHouse of Representativesat the1974 federal electionas a member of theLiberal Party.He held senior ministerial office in theFraser government,serving asAttorney-General(1975–1977),Minister for Home Affairs(1977–1980),the Capital Territory(1977–1980), andHome Affairs and the Environment(1980–1981). He retired from politics to be appointed to theFederal Court of Australia,serving as a judge from 1981 to 1983.
Early life
[edit]Ellicott was born on 15 April 1927 inMoree, New South Wales.[1]He attendedFort Street High Schooland theUniversity of Sydney,[2]graduatingBachelor of ArtsandBachelor of Laws.[1]
Ellicott was admitted to the New South Wales Bar in 1950 and wasSolicitor-General of Australiafrom 1969 to 1973.[3]He was appointedQueen's Counsel(QC) in 1964.[1]As solicitor-general, Ellicott "played a major role in leading theHigh Courtto significantly more liberal interpretations of Commonwealth powers vis-a-vis the States ".[4]
Politics
[edit]Ellicott was elected as theLiberalmember for theDivision of Wentworthin the1974 election.[5]He wasAttorney-Generalin theFraser Ministryfrom 1975 to 1977. Ellicott resigned as Attorney-General as a result of a dispute withMalcolm Fraserover the payment of costs in theSankey v Whitlamcase,[6]where he believed that the Commonwealth should have paid the costs of the private individual, Danny Sankey, as well as those of the politicians,Gough Whitlam,Rex Connor,Jim CairnsandLionel Murphy,but Fraser disagreed.[7]
Ellicott was reappointed to thethird Fraser Ministry(1977 to 1980) asMinister for Home AffairsandMinister for the Capital Territory.As home affairs minister he played a key role in the establishment of theAustralian Institute of Sport(AIS), prompted by Australia's poor performance at the1976 Summer Olympics.[8]In 1978 he also cancelledFilm Australia's funding of a film adaptation ofThe Unknown Industrial Prisoneron the grounds it was uncommercial, a rare instance of political interference in the Australian film industry.[9][10]He was laterMinister for Home Affairs and the Environmentfrom November 1980 until his resignation on 17 February 1981 to become a judge on theFederal Court of Australia.
Ellicott is the only person to serve both as Solicitor-General and Attorney-General.[11]
Judicial career and later activities
[edit]Ellicott is one of only six politicians to have served in both theParliament of Australiaand theFederal Court of Australia,along withNigel Bowen,Merv Everett,Tony Whitlam,John ReevesandDuncan Kerr.He resigned from the court in February 1983,[12]in order to return to the bar and "to take an interest in public affairs again".[13]Writing forThe Canberra Times,Jack Waterfordassessed him as an "outstanding judge" who had "particularly demonstrated his ability, and his radicalism, in his work inadministrative law– the field that he, as a former Attorney-General, played a considerable role in creating ".[4]
As of 2007 he was an arbitrator on theCourt of Arbitration for Sport.[14]On 20 November 2007, he was named as chair of the tribunal to investigate allegations of misbehaviour against the suspendedChief Justice of Fiji,Daniel Fatiaki.[15]
Honours
[edit]In May 2006, theAustralian Olympic Committeeawarded him the Olympic Order of Merit, particularly in his role of establishing theAustralian Institute of Sportwhen Minister for Home Affairs.[16]In October 2016, he was inducted as a General Member of theSport Australia Hall of Fame.[17]In 2017 Ellicott was appointed aCompanion of the Order of Australiafor eminent service to the Parliament of Australia, particularly as Attorney-General, to legal practice and innovative policy development, to advancements in global trade law, and to the international arbitration of sporting disputes.[18]
Personal life
[edit]Ellicott was the double cousin of SirGarfield Barwick,who like him attended Fort Street and the University of Sydney, was also an Attorney-General, and was later Chief Justice of theHigh Court of Australia.[19]
Ellicott died on 31 October 2022, at the age of 95.[20][21]
References
[edit]- ^abc"Biography for ELLICOTT, the Hon. Robert James, QC".Parliament of Australia.Retrieved6 September2020.
- ^Sports Australia Hall of Fame - Bob Ellicott
- ^"Board of Directors".Life Education Australia. Archived fromthe originalon 31 August 2007.Retrieved21 September2007.
- ^abWaterford, Jack (19 January 1983)."Ellicott: profile of an outstanding judge".The Canberra Times.
- ^"Members of the House of Representatives since 1901".Parliamentary Handbook.Parliament of Australia.Archived fromthe originalon 1 September 2007.Retrieved21 September2007.
- ^Sankey v Whitlam[1978] HCA 43,(1978) 142CLR1 (9 November 1978),High Court.
- ^Leigh, Andrew (1999)."The successful Attorney General – an oxymoron?"(PDF).Australian Law Journal.73(2). Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 15 May 2005.Retrieved21 September2007.
- ^"Ellicott created an Institute and with it a vision for Australian sport".Sport Australia Hall of Fame.Retrieved6 September2020.
- ^David Stratton,The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival,Angus & Robertson, 1980 p16
- ^Rod Bishop & Peter Beilby, "Ken Cameron",Cinema Papers,March–April 1979 p 258
- ^"ParlInfo - Search Results".
- ^"Alphabetical list of former judges".Federal Court of Australia.Retrieved21 September2007.
- ^Waterford, Jack (19 January 1983)."Ellicott resigns from the bench".The Canberra Times.
- ^"Arbitrators".Court of Arbitration for Sport.Archived fromthe originalon 26 August 2007.Retrieved21 September2007.
- ^"Fatiaki tribunal named".Fiji Times.Archived fromthe originalon 23 February 2012.Retrieved20 November2007.
- ^"Kemp and Ellicott awarded Olympic Order of Merit".Australian Olympic Committee News.Retrieved8 April2013.
- ^"King Wally becomes a Legend as Michelle Payne rides off with the 'The [sic] Don'".Sport Australia Hall of Fame website.14 October 2016.Retrieved27 September2020.
- ^"Companion (AC) in the General Division of the Order of Australia"(PDF).Australia Day 2017 Honours List.Governor-General of Australia.26 January 2017. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 29 January 2017.Retrieved26 January2017.
- ^"With nod (And wink) to past, it's more fodder for maintaining the rage".30 August 2012.
- ^"Robert James Ellicott: Death Notice – Sydney, New South Wales".Sydney Morning Herald.5 November 2022.Retrieved4 November2022.
- ^"AOC mourns loss of The Honourable Robert James" Bob "Ellicott AC KC".Olympics.au. 4 November 2022.Retrieved4 November2022.
- 1927 births
- 2022 deaths
- Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia
- Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Wentworth
- Members of the Australian House of Representatives
- 1975 Australian constitutional crisis
- Judges of the Federal Court of Australia
- Australian King's Counsel
- Australian barristers
- Solicitors-general of Australia
- Companions of the Order of Australia
- Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees
- 20th-century Australian politicians
- People educated at Fort Street High School