Keppel Earl Enderby (25 June 1926 – 7 January 2015) was an Australian politician and judge. Enderby was a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, representing the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

between 1970 and 1975 and became a senior

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

minister in the

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...

government. After politics, he was appointed a Justice of the

Supreme Court of New South Wales The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. Whilst the Supreme Court i ...

Early years

Enderby was born in

Dubbo Dubbo () is a city in the Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the Newell, Mitchell, and Gol ...

, New South Wales and educated at Dubbo High School. His parents were milk-bar proprietors. He was a trainee pilot in the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

in 1944 and 1945. He studied law at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

from 1946 to 1950 and was admitted to the New South Wales bar in 1950. He was a successful amateur golfer. He won the 1946 New South Wales Amateur Championship beating defending champion

Alan Waterson Alan Norman Waterson (18 October 1915 – 1 May 2003) was an Australian amateur golfer. In 1946 he was runner-up in the Australian Open and the winner of the Australian Amateur. He won the New South Wales Amateur Championship four times, and r ...

in the semi-final and John Allerton in the final. He represented New South Wales in the

Australian Men's Interstate Teams Matches The Australian Men's Interstate Teams Matches were an amateur team golf competition for men between the states and territories of Australia. The event started in 1904 when New South Wales played Victoria. Until World War II the event was played a ...

in 1946, 1947, 1948 and 1949. From 1950 to 1954, he worked as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

in London and studied at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. He also played golf in the British

Amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

and

Open Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999 * ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001 * ''Open'' (YF ...

championships in 1951 and 1952. He returned to New South Wales in 1955 and practised law and lectured at Sydney Technical College. Enderby was active with Ken Buckley in the foundation of the New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1962, he became a lecturer in law at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. In 1966, he began practising law in Canberra while continuing to teach part-time. He was appointed a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

(QC) in 1973.

Political career

In 1970, Enderby gained

(ALP) pre-selection for the

Division of Australian Capital Territory The Division of Australian Capital Territory was an Australian electoral division in the Territory of the same name. The division was created in 1949 and included the whole of the city of Canberra and surrounding rural areas. Prior to 1949, t ...

(ACT) and was subsequently elected to the

at a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

following Jim Fraser's death in April 1970. As the Federal member for the ACT, Kep Enderby was involved in Parliamentary debate over the 1971 Canberra flood. Following

Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...

's victory at the 1972 election, Enderby was appointed as the first Minister for the Capital Territory and the first Minister for the Northern Territory in the December 1972 ministry, replacing the former portfolio of the Interior. In October 1973, he lost these posts, partly because his ACT portfolio made him responsible for implementing policies that were unpopular in his electorate. Instead, he became Minister for Secondary Industry and Minister for Supply. Enderby became the last Minister for Supply—a portfolio which had been established at the beginning of World War II and included responsibility for government munitions factories—when Supply and Secondary Industry were merged into the ''Manufacturing Industry'' portfolio in the June 1974 ministry. It was during this time that he made what has become his most famous utterance: "Traditionally, Australia obtains its imports from overseas." In February 1975, following

Lionel Murphy Lionel Keith Murphy QC (30 August 1922 – 21 October 1986) was an Australian politician, barrister, and judge. He was a Senator for New South Wales from 1962 to 1975, serving as Attorney-General in the Whitlam Government, and then sat on the ...

's appointment to the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is Australia's apex court. It exercises Original jurisdiction, original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified within Constitution of Australia, Australia's Constitution. The High Court was established fol ...

, Enderby became

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

and

Minister for Customs and Excise The Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs is a ministerial post of the Australian Government and is currently held by Andrew Giles, pending the swearing in of the full Albanese ministry on 1 June 2022, following the A ...

. One of his first actions was to introduce a bill to decriminalize

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

and homosexuality in the Australian Capital Territory. The Customs and Excise portfolio was renamed Police and Customs in March 1975, reflecting the government's decision to establish the Australia Police. The Police and Customs portfolio was reassigned to

Jim Cavanagh James Luke Cavanagh (21 June 1913 – 19 August 1990) was an Australian politician and government minister. Cavanagh was born in Rosewater, South Australia and educated at the Dominican School in North Adelaide. He left school at 14 to work as ...

in June 1975. Enderby was elected to the new seat of

at the 1974 election, but was one of many Labor members to lose their seats in the landslide 1975 election defeat that followed the dismissal of the Whitlam Government .

After politics

Enderby moved to Sydney and returned to the bar, where he practised as a barrister. From 1982 until his retirement in 1992, he was a judge of the

. In 1997, he was appointed head of the Serious Offenders Review Council, during which time he said that up to 80 per cent of the nation's prisoners should not be behind bars. In June 2000, the NSW Government decided not to re-appoint him when his term expired, but said the move was not related to his outspoken views.Canberra Times, 1 June 2000 Enderby held a number of community positions throughout his career, including presiding over the regional society for

voluntary euthanasia Voluntary euthanasia (VE) is the ending of a person's life at their request in order to relieve them of suffering. Voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) have been the focus of intense debate in recent years. Some forms of ...

. Additionally, after learning

Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...

in 1987, Enderby became involved in Esperanto organisations, including serving as President of the Australian Esperanto Association from 1992 to 1997, as a committee member of the

World Esperanto Association The Universal Esperanto Association ( eo, Universala Esperanto-Asocio, UEA), also known as the World Esperanto Association, is the largest international organization of Esperanto speakers, with 5501 individual members in 121 countries and 9215 t ...

from 1992 to 2004, as President of the Esperanto Law Association from 1996 to 2002 and from 1998 to 2001 as

President of the World Esperanto Association The President of the Universal Esperanto Association ( eo, Universala Esperanto-Asocio, UEA) is the elected leader of the Universal Esperanto Association and the chief executive of the UEA steering committee (''Estraro''). History Prior to 1920 ...

References

External links

In Esperanto
Ĉu zamenhofa maljusteco?
(An injustice to Zamenhof?)
Kep Enderby forpasis
(Kep Enderby is dead, on ''

Libera Folio ''Libera Folio'' (English: ''Free Folio'') is an online Esperanto periodical about the Esperanto movement independent from the Universal Esperanto Association The Universal Esperanto Association ( eo, Universala Esperanto-Asocio, UEA), also ...

'') In English
Barriers to Reform – The Politics of Opposition
speech in the

John Curtin John Curtin (8 January 1885 – 5 July 1945) was an Australian politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Australia from 1941 until his death in 1945. He led the country for the majority of World War II, including all but the last few ...

Memorial, 1975 {{DEFAULTSORT:Enderby, Keppel 1926 births 2015 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Australian Capital Territory Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Canberra Members of the Cabinet of Australia Attorneys-General of Australia 1975 Australian constitutional crisis Alumni of the University of London Australian Esperantists Presidents of the Universal Esperanto Association Australian King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel Judges of the Supreme Court of New South Wales 20th-century Australian politicians Australian male golfers Amateur golfers Military personnel from New South Wales Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Australian World War II pilots