Kenneth Grenville Gee
QC (17 March 1915 – 20 January 2008) was an Australian judge and barrister.
Background
Gee was born in
Auburn
Auburn may refer to:
Places Australia
* Auburn, New South Wales
* City of Auburn, the local government area
*Electoral district of Auburn
*Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region
*Auburn, South Australia
*Auburn, Tasmania
*Aub ...
to solicitor Dion Gee and Emmeline, ''née'' Grenville. He was educated at Homebush Primary School and
Fort Street Boys' High School
, motto_translation = Each person is the maker of their own fortune
, sister_school = Suginami Sogo High School, Tokyo, Japan
, location = Parramatta Road, Petersham, Inner West Sydney, New South Wales
, ...
, and then studied law at the
University of Sydney, graduating with a
Bachelor of Law
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...
in 1937. Becoming a solicitor, he was initially a member of the
Labor Party, but his
Marxism saw him expelled during
Jack Lang's purges. Invited to join the
Communist Party of Australia, he declined because of the
Nazi-Soviet Pact and instead he joined the tiny
Trotskyist Communist League.
In 1941 he abandoned the law to work as an organiser for the League, led by
Nick Origlass
Nick Origlass (13 January 1908 – 17 May 1996) was an Australian Trotskyist who served as mayor of Leichhardt in Sydney.
Early life
In 1932, Origlass joined the Communist Party of Australia (CPA), which was then aligned with Stalin's USSR. ...
and Jack Wishart; during this period he worked as a boilermaker's labourer and was known as "Comrade Roberts". He had been friends at school with
John Kerr, a future
Governor-General
Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
; he had by this stage regular contacts with
Laurie Short and
Jim McClelland
James Robert McClelland (3 June 1915 – 16 January 1999) was an Australian lawyer, politician, and judge. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as a Senator for New South Wales from 1971 to 1978. He briefly held mini ...
, who would go on to significant careers in ALP politics.
Family life
Gee married pharmacist Isobel Russell in 1940. Their three children included the novelist
Kate Grenville. He and Isobel later divorced, and Gee remarried Elaine Hearn, with whom he also had a child.
Politics
Abandoning the Communist League in 1945, Gee returned to his legal practice; he was called to the Bar in 1947 and became crown prosecutor. In 1949 he rejoined the Labor Party and stood unsuccessfully in the
federal election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...
for the safe
Liberal seat of
Bradfield. In 1973 he was appointed
Queen's Counsel and he became a judge on the
District Court in 1975, serving until his retirement in 1985. He was occupied in semi-retirement as a member of the Serious Offenders Review Board and a consultant to the Judicial Commission.
[
In later years Gee's political views altered; he became an anti-communist, supporting the Vietnam War and the nationalists in Taiwan. His publications included a memoir, ''Comrade Roberts: Recollections of a Trotskyite'' (2006); a novel, ''A Maid from Heaven'' (1966); and a non-fiction work, ''The Saving of South Vietnam'' (1972).][
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gee, Ken
1915 births
2008 deaths
Australian barristers
Australian King's Counsel
20th-century Australian judges
University of Sydney alumni
Judges of the District Court of NSW
Lawyers from Sydney