H. V. Evatt
The Right Honourable Herbert Vere Evatt QC KStJ |
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Justice of the High Court of Australia | |
In office 19 December 1930 – 2 September 1940 |
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Nominated by | James Scullin |
Preceded by | Sir Charles Powers |
Succeeded by | Sir Dudley Williams |
Chief Justice of New South Wales | |
In office 15 February 1960 – 24 October 1962 |
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Preceded by | Sir Kenneth Street |
Succeeded by | Sir Leslie Herron |
15th Leader of the Opposition Elections: 1954, 1955, 1958 |
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In office 20 June 1951 – 9 February 1960 |
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Preceded by | Ben Chifley |
Succeeded by | Arthur Calwell |
Leader of the Australian Labor Party | |
In office 20 June 1951 – 9 February 1960 |
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Deputy | Arthur Calwell |
Preceded by | Ben Chifley |
Succeeded by | Arthur Calwell |
Attorney-General of Australia | |
In office 7 October 1941 – 19 December 1949 |
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Preceded by | Billy Hughes |
Succeeded by | John Spicer |
Minister for External Affairs | |
In office 7 October 1941 – 19 December 1949 |
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Preceded by | Sir Frederick Stewart |
Succeeded by | Percy Spender |
Member of the Australian Parliament for Barton |
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In office 21 September 1940 – 22 November 1958 |
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Preceded by | Albert Lane |
Succeeded by | Len Reynolds |
Member of the Australian Parliament for Hunter |
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In office 22 November 1958 – 10 February 1960 |
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Preceded by | Rowley James |
Succeeded by | Bert James |
Personal details | |
Born | Maitland, New South Wales, Australia |
30 April 1894
Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia |
Alma mater | University of Sydney |
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Herbert Vere Evatt, QC KStJ (30 April 1894 – 2 November 1965), usually known as H. V. Evatt and often as "Doc" Evatt on account of his LLD degree,[1] was an Australian judge, lawyer, parliamentarian and writer.
Evatt was the Chief Justice of New South Wales from 1960 to 1962, the Leader of the Australian Labor Party (and Leader of the Opposition) from 1951 to 1960, the third President of the United Nations General Assembly from 1948 to 1949 and helped draft the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the first Chairman of the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission in 1946, the Attorney-General and Minister for External Affairs from 1941 to 1949, and a Justice of the High Court of Australia from 1930 to 1940.
Contents
Early years and education
Evatt was born in Maitland, New South Wales, as the fifth of eight sons of John Ashmore Evatt, an English publican from British India, and Sydney-born Irish-Australian Jane "Jeanie" Sophia (née Gray). His younger brother was politician and lawyer Clive Evatt. Their father died when Bert was 7 years old, and his mother shouldered the task of encouraging an intellectually gifted family. He was never known as Herbert as his family called him "Bert".
He attended local public schools of East Maitland Superior Public School and then Fort Street High School in Sydney, winning scholarships to the University of Sydney, where he was a resident of St Andrew's College. He graduated in 1919 with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics, Logic, Philosophy and English with (Triple)[2] First-Class Honours and the University Medal in Philosophy in 1915, a Master of Arts in 1916, and a Bachelor of Laws with First-Class Honours and the University Medal in 1918.[3]
Evatt played cricket, rugby league football, hockey and baseball.[4] He was also the Editor of Hermes, the annual student literary journal, was a Tutor at St Andrew's College, and the President of the University of Sydney Union from 1916–17. He graduated Legum Doctor (LLD) in 1924 from the University of Sydney with a thesis on the royal prerogative.[1][5]
Career
Because of poor eyesight, Evatt was unable to serve in the First World War, in which two of his brothers were killed. He became a prominent industrial lawyer in Sydney, working mainly for trade union clients. In 1925, Evatt was elected as an Australian Labor Party member for Balmain in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. Re-elected as an "Independent Labor" candidate in 1927, Evatt served in the Legislative Assembly until 1930.[3]
Justice of the High Court of Australia
In 1930, the Scullin Labor government appointed Evatt as the youngest-ever justice of the High Court of Australia. Regarded by some as a brilliant and innovative judge, he delivered a number of minority judgements, several of which were decades later adopted by High Court majorities. Evatt could, however, be partial on the bench. Sir Owen Dixon noted in Australian Woollen Mills Ltd v F.S. Walton & Co. Ltd (1937 58 CLR 641) that Evatt was on that occasion "full of antagonism to the respondent ... Most unjudicial."[6] Whenever Evatt was not particularly interested in a case he appears to have generally gone along with Dixon.[7]
Evatt was one of six justices of the High Court to have served in the Parliament of New South Wales, along with Edmund Barton, Richard O'Connor, Adrian Knox, Albert Piddington and Edward McTiernan. In 1934 Evatt played an important part in the Egon Kisch exclusion when he ruled that the Lyons Government's ban on Kisch entering Australia had been incorrectly executed and that Kisch was free to enter the country.[8]
Member of the federal House of Representatives
In 1940 Evatt resigned from the High Court to return to politics, and was elected federal MP for the Sydney seat of Barton in the House of Representatives.[citation needed]. When Labor came to power under John Curtin in 1941, Evatt became Attorney-General and Minister for External Affairs (Foreign Minister). He became deputy leader of the Labor Party after the 1946 election, under the leadership of Ben Chifley.[citation needed]
President of the United Nations General Assembly
Evatt joined the diplomatic councils of the allies during World War II. In 1945, he played a leading role in the founding of the UN. He was President of the U.N. General Assembly from 1948 to 1949, and was prominent in the negotiations that led to the creation of Israel. He wrote in his memoirs: "I regard the establishment of Israel as a great victory of the United Nations." He helped draft the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and was the first chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission.[9]
Spokesperson of Cricket Australia
While in London Evatt acted as the spokesperson for the Australian Board of Control for International Cricket and made personal representations to the Marylebone Cricket Club who were reluctant to send a cricket team to tour Australia so soon after the war. He put forward convincing arguments as to the need to re-establish sporting relations and the financial benefits of the tour and the MCC agreed to the 1946–47 Ashes series.[10][11] Don Bradman would later aver that the "quick resumption of Anglo-Australian Tests had justified itself in every way, psychologically, technically, financially".[12]
Leader of the Opposition
In the 1949 election, Labor was defeated by Menzies' new Liberal Party. At this election, Evatt faced war hero Nancy Wake and suffered a massive swing in his own electorate, seeing his majority reduced from a very safe 66.9 percent to an extremely marginal 53.2 percent. He faced Wake again in the double dissolution election of 1951 and was nearly defeated, seeing her off by only 243 votes (out of more than 41,600 cast). When Ben Chifley (still Labor leader) suddenly died several months later, Evatt was elected unopposed as his successor. At first his leadership went well. He campaigned successfully against Menzies' attempt to amend the Constitution to ban the Communist Party. Many convinced anti-Communists in the Labor Party believed this was both bad politics and bad policy because of the active Communist infiltration of numerous trade unions, and because of the threat to national security posed by Communism. None of the anti-Communists, aside from Stan Keon, openly censured Evatt's stance.[citation needed]
Evatt's failure to win the 1954 election led him to blame the Catholic-dominated "Groupers" in the party for sabotaging his campaign. He reportedly believed Menzies had conspired with the security services to bring about the defection of a Soviet diplomat (see Petrov Affair), and to do so with the specific purpose of discrediting Evatt. Documents shown to the commission members were alleged to provide evidence of an extensive Soviet spy ring in Australia, and named (among many others), two of Evatt's staff members. Evatt appeared before the Royal Commission as attorney for his staff members. His cross-examination of the key ASIO operative Michael Bialoguski transformed the commission's hearings and greatly perturbed the government. The Royal Commission quickly withdrew Evatt's leave to appear. Evatt claimed this denial was because of judicial bias in favour of the Menzies government.[citation needed]
Evatt's loss of the election and his belief that Menzies had conspired with ASIO to contrive Petrov's defection led to criticism within the Labor Party of his decision to appear before the Royal Commission. He compounded this by writing to the Soviet Foreign Minister, Vyacheslav Molotov, asking if allegations of Soviet espionage in Australia were true. When Molotov replied, naturally denying the allegations, Evatt read the letter out in Parliament, bringing the House into silence momentarily before both sides of Parliament began laughing.[13]
Evatt later publicly attacked "The Groupers", who had infiltrated the Victorian Labor Party, thus precipitating a split in the party, with most of the "Groupers" leaving or being expelled. The disaffected formed the Democratic Labor Party, which directed its preferences against Labor at subsequent elections. This, together with an obsessive hatred of Menzies, led Evatt into a number of unforced errors.[14] Due to these factors, Labor was roundly defeated in the 1955 election, suffering an 11-seat swing. Evatt himself was nearly defeated in Barton after almost three-quarters of independents' preferences flowed to his Liberal opponent. For the 1958 election, he transferred to Hunter, one of the few safe country seats for Labor. He offered to resign as leader if the DLP would return to the party. The offer was rejected and Labor was soundly defeated again.[citation needed]
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of NSW
In 1960, the Labor government in New South Wales appointed Evatt Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, an appointment that was widely seen as a means of giving him a dignified exit from politics.[15] Tom Hughes, a leading Sydney barrister and former Liberal Attorney-General, averred that that all the judgements issued by Evatt during this period were co-authored with a judicial colleague.[16]
Health
Recent biographies of Evatt agree that his behaviour became more eccentric from the late 1950s. Pat Fiske and David McKnight, in their 1995 television documentary Doc, attributed what they described as Evatt's "deteriorating mental functioning" to arteriosclerosis.[17]
Death
In 1962, Evatt was suffering from stress and was persuaded to retire from the bench. He also suffered from arteriosclerosis which led to his death. He died in Canberra on 2 November 1965, aged 71.[18]
Personal life
Two years after being admitted to the New South Wales Bar, Evatt, an Anglican,[19] married Mary Alice Sheffer at the Congregational Church in Mosman, New South Wales on 27 November 1920. Even with his sometimes turbulent nature, the relationship was one of devotion.[19] The couple had two children, Peter and Rosalind.[20]
Peter Evatt became an Olympic rower, who was 1953 national sculling champion and represented Australia in rowing at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne.[21] Peter was a member of the ALP, like his father, and stood for the seat of Bennelong at the 1969 federal elections.
In 1972, aged 50, Peter died by accidental electrocution while trying to repair a faulty electric toaster. He was survived by his six children. His death was reported by The Age on 27 December 1972.[22]
In 1953, Rosalind Evatt married Peter Carrodus, the assistant manager of a Canberra radio station, 2CA.[23]
Literary works
During his life, Evatt had a varied career as a writer, covering such topics as law and labour history. His book on the politics of the Rum Rebellion is still considered relevant, although others disagree with Evatt's view. Evatt contributed an article on "Cricket and the British Commonwealth" to the 1949 edition of the Wisden Cricketer's Almanack.[24]
His publications include:
- H. V. Evatt, Australian Labour Leader: The Story Of W.A. Holman and the Labour Movement, 1954
- H. V. Evatt, The King and His Dominion Governors, 1936
- H. V. Evatt, Injustice within the Law. A study of the case of the Dorsetshire Labourers, 1937
- H. V. Evatt, The Royal Prerogative, 1930 (this was his LLD thesis)
- H. V. Evatt, Rum Rebellion: A Study of the Overthrow of Governor Bligh by John Macarthur and the New South Wales Corps, 1943
Honours
- In 1924 Evatt was awarded the degree LLD, for his dissertation on prerogative powers of Governors in the British legal system.[citation needed]
- The Evatt Foundation,[25] a research institute for the labour movement, is named in his honour.
- The suburb of Evatt, which lies in the Belconnen district of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, is also named in his honour.
- One of the high schools (Maitland Boys High School) in his home town of Maitland was briefly renamed Evatt High School in his honour, before being renamed Maitland High School when it became unisex some years later.
- In November 1965, the NSW State Government opened Evatt Park in Lugarno, which is still used frequently for recreation.
- United Nations Youth Australia runs an annual national schools debating competition, the Evatt Trophy Competition.
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Evatt biodata, Flinders University website
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Evatt biodata, trove.nla.gov.au (19 December 1930)
- ↑ K.H. Bailey, "Introduction to the First Edition" in Herbert Vere Evatt, The King and His Australian Governors (Melbourne, F.W. Cheshire, 1936, 2nd edn 1967), p xxxvi.
- ↑ Owen Dixon Diary, 29 April 1937, found in Dixon's personal papers.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. p 62.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ William Roger Louis, The British Empire in the Middle East, 1945–1951, pp. 19–20. Oxford: Clarendon Press (1984).
- ↑ Clif Cary, Cricket Controversy, Test matches in Australia 1946–47, T. Werner Laurie Ltd, 1948, pp 3–4.
- ↑ Ray Robinson and Mike Coward. England vs Australia 1932–1985, p. 292, in E.W. Swanton (ed), Barclay's World of Cricket, Willow, 1986.
- ↑ E.W. Swanton, Swanton in Australia with MCC 1946–1975, Fontana/Collins, 1975, pg. 68.
- ↑ Report on Petrov Affair, moadoph.gov.au
- ↑ Robert Menzies profile, National Archives of Australia
- ↑ Sir William Francis Langer Owen profile profile, Australian Dictionary of Biography
- ↑ T.E.F. Hughes QC, "As Time Goes By", New South Wales Bar News (Winter 2006), pp 58–63 at page 59
- ↑ Gerard Henderson. "Labor in denial about Evatt, its flawed hero", The Age, 12 April 2005.
- ↑ Andrew Campbell. (2007.) "Dr. H. V. Evatt, Part One: A Question of Sanity", National Observer, 73: 25–39.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 G.C. Bolton. "Evatt, Herbert Vere (Bert) (1894–1965)" profile in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol. 14, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne (1996).
- ↑ Michael Kirby. "Independence of the Judiciary: Basic Principles, New Challenges"
- ↑ "Peter Evatt Wins Sculling Title", The Canberra Times (16 February 1953).
- ↑ "Peter Evatt Found Dead", The Age (27 December 1972).
- ↑ "Notable Canberra Wedding", The Age (30 November 1953).
- ↑ Michael Duffy. Proof of history's rum deal Sydney Morning Herald, 27 January 2006.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Bibliography
- Wake, Valdemar Robert. No Ribbons or Medals: the story of "Hereward" an Australian counter espionage officer (2004), Jacobyte Books.
Further reading
- Buckley, Ken; Dale, Barbara and Reynolds, Wayne. Doc Evatt, Cheshire, Melbourne (1994); ISBN 0-582-87498-X
- Crockett, Peter. Evatt: A Life, Oxford University Press, Melbourne (1993); ISBN 0-19-553558-8
- Dalziel, Allan. Evatt. The Enigma, Lansdowne Press, Melbourne (1967).
- Makin, Norman. Federal Labour Leaders, Union Printing, Sydney, New South Wales (1961), pp. 140–145.
- Renouf, Alan. Let Justice Be Done. The Foreign Policy of Dr H.V. Evatt, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, Queensland (1983); ISBN 0-7022-1893-6
- Tennant, Kylie. Evatt. Politics and Justice, Angus and Robertson, Sydney (1970); ISBN 0-207-12533-3
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Herbert Evatt. |
Political offices | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by | Leader of the Opposition 1951–1960 |
Succeeded by Arthur Calwell |
Preceded by | Minister for External Affairs 1941–1949 |
Succeeded by Percy Spender |
Preceded by | Attorney-General of Australia 1941–1949 |
Succeeded by John Spicer |
Parliament of Australia | ||
Preceded by | Member for Barton 1940–1958 |
Succeeded by Len Reynolds |
Preceded by | Member for Hunter 1958–1960 |
Succeeded by Bert James |
Parliament of New South Wales | ||
Preceded by | Member for Balmain 1925–1927 Served alongside: Keegan, Lane, Quirk, Stuart-Robertson |
Succeeded by H. V. Evatt |
Preceded by | Member for Balmain 1927–1930 |
Succeeded by John Quirk |
Diplomatic posts | ||
Preceded by | President of the United Nations General Assembly 1948–1949 |
Succeeded by Carlos P. Romulo |
Legal offices | ||
Preceded by | Chief Justice of New South Wales 1960–1962 |
Succeeded by Sir Leslie Herron |
Party political offices | ||
Preceded by | Deputy Leader of the Australian Labor Party 1946–1951 |
Succeeded by Arthur Calwell |
Preceded by | Leader of the Australian Labor Party 1951–1960 |
Succeeded by Arthur Calwell |
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