Garfield Barwick
Sir Garfield Edward John Barwick AK GCMG PC QC (22 June 1903 – 13 July 1997) was an Australian judge who was the seventh and longest serving Chief Justice of Australia, in office from 1964 to 1981.Barwick also played a small but significant role in the 1975 constitutional crisis, advising Governor-General John Kerr that it was within his powers to dismiss Prime Minister Gough Whitlam from office.[citation needed] A very diligent student, Barwick was admitted to legal practice soon after finishing university, although (on his own later admission) he suffered severely in financial terms during the Great Depression.At the beginning of World War 2, Barwick's challenges to the National Security Act 1939, which centralised the power to the Australian government, propelled him to the front rank of the Bar.He became publicly prominent in the 1943 case over the artistic merits of William Dobell's Archibald Prize-winning portrait of the painter Joshua Smith; a losing entrant claimed the picture was caricature, not portraiture.[3] A member of the Liberal Party, Barwick was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1958 Parramatta by-election, beginning his parliamentary career at the relatively late age of 54.He also gained public notice for his role in the case of an alleged Estonian war criminal, Ervin Viks, who had settled in Australia and was being pursued by the Soviet Union.[7] On 27 April 1964, Barwick was appointed Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, succeeding Sir Owen Dixon, being the first law graduate from the University of Sydney to hold the position.He was instrumental in the construction of the High Court building in Canberra (unofficially known, as a result, as "Gar's Mahal"),[9] and became the first president of the Australian Conservation Foundation in 1966.A year earlier, in anticipation of the move, Barwick wrote to Malcolm Fraser (who had become prime minister as a result of the dismissal and who was confirmed in office by the December 1975 election), seeking an official residence in the national capital.His request "went down like a lead balloon with the cabinet which had run into trouble with the High Court's burgeoning costs while urging economic restraint on other Australians",[9] and was rejected.[29] He was the double cousin of Robert Ellicott, also an Attorney-General, and later Justice of the Federal Court of Australia, and who like Barwick attended Fort Street and Sydney University.
The Right HonourableChief Justice of AustraliaSir Robert MenziesWilliam Sidney, 1st Viscount De L'IsleSir Owen DixonSir Harry GibbsAttorney-General of AustraliaRobert MenziesNeil O'SullivanBilly SneddenMinister for External AffairsPaul HasluckAustralian ParliamentParramattaHoward BealeNigel BowenNorthern Suburbs Memorial GardensLiberalFort Street High SchoolAlma materUniversity of SydneyLiberal PartyMenzies governmentSydneycalled to the barHigh CourtNSW Bar AssociationLaw Council of AustraliaHouse of Representatives1958 Parramatta by-electionAttorney-GeneralOwen Dixoncorporations powerconstitutional basis of taxation1975 constitutional crisisJohn KerrGough WhitlamAustralian Conservation FoundationMethodistCornish originStanmoreUniversity MedalGreat DepressionguarantorAshfieldbarristerWilliam DobellArchibald PrizeJoshua SmithAirlines caseBank Nationalisation caseknightedPrivy Councilarrest warrantsGeneral Assembly of the United NationsFrank BrowneHarold HoltHigh Court of AustraliaParliament of AustraliaEdmund BartonRichard O'ConnorIsaac IsaacsH. B. HigginsEdward McTiernanJohn LathamLionel MurphyInternational Court of JusticeConcrete Pipes caseterritorial seaSecondFamily Law Act 19751974 joint sittingPetroleum and Minerals Authority casetax avoidance and tax evasion1975 Australian constitutional crisisGovernor-GeneralSir John KerrMalcolm FraserSir John LathamPrivy CounsellorJudicial Committee of the Privy CouncilAustralia Act 1986Robert EllicottKnight BachelorOrder of St Michael and St GeorgeOrder of AustraliaSydney Morning HeraldFairfax MediaWayback MachineStrickland v Rocla Concrete Pipes LtdWA v CommonwealthQueensland v CommonwealthRussell v RussellVictoria v CommonwealthMason, AnthonyWilliams, GeorgeGleeson, MTom FrameChancellorMacquarie UniversityJustices of the High Court of AustraliaChief justicesGriffithIsaacsLathamBrennanM. GleesonFrenchKiefelGagelerBartonO'ConnorHigginsPowersPiddingtonStarkeMcTiernanWilliamsFullagarTaylorMenziesWindeyerStephenJacobsMurphyAickin