Bob Ellicott

Robert James Ellicott AC, QC (born 15 April 1927) is a retired Australian barrister, politician and judge. He served as Solicitor-General of Australia (1969–1973) before entering the House of Representatives at the 1974 federal election as a member of the Liberal Party. He held senior ministerial office in the Fraser Government, serving as Attorney-General (1975–1977), Minister for Home Affairs (1977–1980), the Capital Territory (1977–1980), and Home Affairs and the Environment (1980–1981). He retired from politics in order to be appointed to the Federal Court of Australia, serving as a judge from 1981 to 1983.

The Honourable Bob Ellicott AC, QC
Judge of the Federal 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 the Australian Parliament for Wentworth
In office 18 May 1974 – 17 February 1981
Preceded by	Les Bury
Succeeded by	Peter Coleman
Personal details
Born	15 April 1927 Moree, New South Wales, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Liberal Party of Australia
Occupation	Barrister

Early life

Ellicott was born on 15 April 1927 in Moree, New South Wales.[1] He attended Fort Street High School and the University of Sydney,[2] graduating Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws.[1]

Ellicott was admitted to the New South Wales Bar in 1950 and was Solicitor-General of Australia from 1969 to 1973.[3] He was appointed Queen's Counsel (QC) in 1964.[1] As solicitor-general, Ellicott "played a major role in leading the High Court to significantly more liberal interpretations of Commonwealth powers vis-a-vis the States".[4]

Politics

Ellicott was elected as the Liberal member for the Division of Wentworth in the 1974 election.[5] He was Attorney-General in the Fraser Ministry from 1975 to 1977. Ellicott resigned as Attorney-General as a result of a dispute with Malcolm Fraser over the payment of costs in the Sankey v Whitlam case,[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 Cairns and Lionel Murphy, but Fraser disagreed.[7]

Ellicott was reappointed to the third Fraser Ministry (1977 to 1980) as Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for the Capital Territory. As home affairs minister he played a key role in the establishment of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), prompted by Australia's poor performance at the 1976 Summer Olympics.[8] In 1978 he also cancelled Film Australia's funding of a film adaptation of The Unknown Industrial Prisoner on the grounds it was uncommercial, a rare instance of political interference in the Australian film industry.[9][10] He was later Minister for Home Affairs and the Environment from November 1980 until his resignation on 17 February 1981 to become a judge on the Federal Court of Australia.

Ellicott is the only person to serve both as Solicitor-General and Attorney General.[11]

Judicial career and later activities

Ellicott is one of only six politicians to have served in both the Parliament of Australia and the Federal Court of Australia, along with Nigel Bowen, Merv Everett, Tony Whitlam, John Reeves and Duncan 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 for The Canberra Times, Jack Waterford assessed him as an "outstanding judge" who had "particularly demonstrated his ability, and his radicalism, in his work in administrative 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 the Court of Arbitration for Sport.[14] On 20 November 2007, he was named as chair of the tribunal to investigate allegations of misbehaviour against the suspended Chief Justice of Fiji, Daniel Fatiaki.[15]

Honours

In May 2006, the Australian Olympic Committee awarded him the Olympic Order of Merit, particularly in his role of establishing the Australian Institute of Sport when Minister for Home Affairs.[16] In October 2016, he was inducted as a General Member of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.[17] In 2017 Ellicott was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia for 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

He is the double cousin of Sir Garfield Barwick, who like him attended Fort Street and the University of Sydney, was also an Attorney-General, and was later Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia.[19]

References

1. "Biography for ELLICOTT, the Hon. Robert James, QC". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
2. Sports Australia Hall of Fame - Bob Ellicott
3. "Board of Directors". Life Education Australia. Archived from the original on 31 August 2007. Retrieved 21 September 2007.
4. Waterford, Jack (19 January 1983). "Ellicott: profile of an outstanding judge". The Canberra Times.
5. "Members of the House of Representatives since 1901". Parliamentary Handbook. Parliament of Australia. Archived from the original on 1 September 2007. Retrieved 21 September 2007.
6. Sankey v Whitlam [1978] HCA 43, (1978) 142 CLR 1 (9 November 1978), High Court.
7. Leigh, Andrew (1999). "The successful Attorney General – an oxymoron?" (PDF). Australian Law Journal. 73 (2). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 May 2005. Retrieved 21 September 2007.
8. "Ellicott created an Institute and with it a vision for Australian sport". Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
9. David Stratton, The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival, Angus & Robertson, 1980 p16
10. Rod Bishop & Peter Beilby, "Ken Cameron", Cinema Papers, March–April 1979 p 258
11. https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22handbook%2Fallmps%2FYF6%22
12. "Alphabetical list of former judges". Federal Court of Australia. Retrieved 21 September 2007.
13. Waterford, Jack (19 January 1983). "Ellicott resigns from the bench". The Canberra Times.
14. "Arbitrators". Court of Arbitration for Sport. Archived from the original on 26 August 2007. Retrieved 21 September 2007.
15. "Fatiaki tribunal named". Fiji Times. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2007.
16. "Kemp and Ellicott awarded Olympic Order of Merit". Australian Olympic Committee News. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
17. "King Wally becomes a Legend as Michelle Payne rides off with the 'The [sic] Don'". Sport Australia Hall of Fame website. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
18. "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 from the original (PDF) on 29 January 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
19. http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/with-nod-and-wink-to-past-its-more-fodder-for-maintaining-the-rage-20120830-253c5.html