Robin Rhodes Millhouse, QC (9 December 1929 – 28 April 2017) was, at various times, the 39th

Attorney-General of South Australia The attorney-general of South Australia is the Cabinet minister in the Government of South Australia who is responsible for that state's system of law and justice. The attorney-general must be a qualified legal practitioner, although this wa ...

, the first

Australian Democrats The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups, it was Australia ...

parliamentarian, and the Chief Justice of both

Kiribati Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),Kiribati
''The Wor ...

and

Nauru Nauru ( or ; na, Naoero), officially the Republic of Nauru ( na, Repubrikin Naoero) and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in Oceania, in the Central Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Ki ...

and a judge of the High Court of Tuvalu.

Early life and career

Millhouse was born in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, to lawyer Vivian Rhodes Millhouse (1902–1963), and Grace Lily (often Lilly) Millhouse, née Ayliffe (1900–1990). Millhouse gained an LLB from the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

in 1951 after attending

St Peter's College, Adelaide , other_name = The Collegiate School of St Peter , seal_image = St Peter's College, Adelaide Logo.svg , seal_size = 150 , image = SPSC chapel and memorial hall.jpg , image_size ...

Political career

While practising 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 ...

, Millhouse entered the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assembly was creat ...

on 7 May 1955 as the

Liberal and Country League Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and ...

(LCL) member for

Mitcham Mitcham is an area within the London Borough of Merton in South London, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross. Originally a village in the county of Surrey, today it is mainly a residential suburb, and includes Mitcham Common. It ha ...

, a safe LCL seat in southeastern Adelaide. Millhouse rapidly gained a reputation as both the intellectual driving force behind the LCL and an outspoken spokesperson for the urban middle class faction of the LCL, a group under-represented within the party hierarchy. Millhouse ran for the LCL leadership pre-selection after the leader Sir Thomas Playford's retirement but lost to

Steele Hall Raymond Steele Hall (born 30 November 1928) is a former Australian politician who served as the 36th Premier of South Australia from 1968 to 1970. He also served in the federal Parliament as a senator for South Australia from 1974 to 1977 and f ...

, another member of the LCL's progressive faction. Instead, following the LCL's return to power at the 1968 election, Millhouse was given the portfolios of Attorney-General, Aboriginal Affairs, Social Welfare, and Labour and Industry. In these roles, Millhouse gained a reputation as a crusader for progressive social change as he sought to position South Australia as a national leader on social issues. During 1969 Millhouse was the architect and the major proponent for abortion on health grounds in South Australia, a decision that he would come to regret decades later, when he claimed that it had become "abortion on demand". In the wake of the LCL's 1970 election loss, Millhouse was elected Deputy Leader of the Opposition on 2 June. After the LCL also lost the 1973 state election, Millhouse resigned from the party on 18 March 1973 to form the Liberal Movement, along with former premier

and a number of other senior LCL members, following growing dissatisfaction at the continuing conservatism of the LCL. He led the Liberal Movement at the 1975 state election, where the party received 18% of the vote, though only winning four seats. In 1976, all Liberal Movement parliamentary members except for Millhouse returned to what by then had become the South Australia branch of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. Millhouse chose instead to form a new political party, the

New LM The New Liberal Movement (New LM) was a South Australian political party which existed from 1976 to 1977, with one member of parliament. In 1976 the Liberal Movement dissolved and three of its four parliamentary members rejoined the Liberal Pa ...

, before it merged with the

Australia Party The Australia Party was a minor political party established initially in 1966 as the Liberal Reform Group. As the Australia Party, it became influential, particularly in the landmark 1972 federal election when its preferences assisted the Austr ...

, the

Centre-Line Party The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups, it was Australia ...

and other like minded groups to form the

. As a sitting member, he became the first Australian Democrats Member of Parliament in 1977. As a Democrat, Millhouse retained his seat of Mitcham at the 1977 and 1979 state elections. He continued to campaign for progressive social issues, including the introduction of a bill to legalise

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

in South Australia.

Judicial career

South Australia

Millhouse was made 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 ...

in 1979. He resigned from parliament on 7 July 1982, sparking 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 ...

, upon accepting a position as a

South Australian Supreme Court The Supreme Court of South Australia is the superior court of the Australian state of South Australia. The Supreme Court is the highest South Australian court in the Australian court hierarchy. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in ...

justice. He served on the Supreme Court until his retirement due to age in December 1999.

Further judicial appointments

At his retirement sitting, he announced his appointment as Chief Justice of the High Court of

Kiribati Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),Kiribati
''The Wor ...

, a position he held until January 2011. He was Chief Justice of

from 3 April 2006 to late 2010. Following his retirement as Chief Justice of Kiribati, he served as a judge of

High Court of Tuvalu The High Court of Tuvalu is the superior court of Tuvalu. It has unlimited original jurisdiction to determine the Law of Tuvalu and hears appeals from the lower courts. General jurisdiction of the High Court The High Court of Tuvalu has general ...

from February 2014 and March 2015.

Personal life

He married Ann (died 1992) in 1957 and had three daughters and two sons. Millhouse died on 28 April 2017, aged 87. Sir

Eric Millhouse Colonel Sir Eric William John Millhouse (26 December 1891 – 24 February 1950) was a South Australian lawyer, noted for his work for returned servicemen. History Millhouse was born at Mount Gambier, a son of Joseph Edward Millhouse and his wife M ...

(1891 – 24 February 1950), lawyer and champion of returned soldiers, was an uncle.

References

External links

*
Robin Millhouse’s regret: The Advertiser 16 August 2014
{{DEFAULTSORT:Millhouse, Robin 1929 births 2017 deaths Australian Democrats members of the Parliament of South Australia Australian judges on the courts of Kiribati Australian judges on the courts of Nauru Australian King's Counsel Chief justices of Nauru Judges of the Supreme Court of South Australia Liberal and Country League politicians Liberal Movement (Australia) politicians Adelaide Law School alumni Attorneys-General of South Australia