Antony Philip Whitlam (born 7 January 1944) is an Australian lawyer who has served as a politician and judge. He is the son of

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 ...

(former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

) and

Margaret Whitlam Margaret Elaine Whitlam, AO (née Dovey; 19 November 1919 – 17 March 2012) was an Australian social campaigner, author, and athlete. She was the wife of Gough Whitlam, the 21st Prime Minister of Australia from 1972 to 1975, and a representat ...

Early life and education

Whitlam was born in Elizabeth Bay, Sydney, and educated at

Sydney Boys High School Sydney Boys High School (”SBHS”), otherwise known as The Sydney High School (“SHS”) or High, is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Single-sex school, single-sex Selective school (New South Wales), academically s ...

(1956–60) and 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 ...

, where he graduated in law.

Career

Early legal career

Whitlam was called to the New South Wales bar in 1967. In 1973, he became South-east Asia regional counsel for

Rank Xerox Rank is the relative position, value, worth, complexity, power, importance, authority, level, etc. of a person or object within a ranking, such as: Level or position in a hierarchical organization * Academic rank * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy * ...

Political career

After several unsuccessful runs for preselection, Whitlam was elected in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

to 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 ...

seat of Grayndler in central Sydney. His father Gough Whitlam was at that time the Leader of the Labor Party and had just been dismissed as Prime Minister by the

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 ...

, Sir John Kerr. Labor was heavily defeated but Tony Whitlam easily won Grayndler. He became only the second federal MP to serve in the House at the same time as his father. He is also the only child of an Australian Prime Minister to be a federal MP (

Kevin Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicized from , an ...

and

Brendan Lyons Brendan Aloysius Lyons (17 June 1927 – 7 September 2010) was an Australian politician who served in the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 1982 to 1986, representing the Liberal Party. He was a government minister from 1984 until his defeat at ...

, sons of Prime Minister

Joseph Lyons Joseph Aloysius Lyons (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was an Australian politician who served as the List of prime ministers of Australia by time in office, 10th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1932 until his death in 1939. He ...

, were

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

n state MPs). In 1977, there was a redistribution of electoral boundaries in New South Wales, and the

Division of Lang The Division of Lang was an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian Electoral Division in the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales. It was located in the southern suburbs of Sydney, and was name ...

, adjoining Grayndler, was abolished. Whitlam ceded Labor preselection to the sitting Labor MP for Lang,

Frank Stewart Francis Eugene "Frank" Stewart (20 February 192316 April 1979), Australian politician and rugby league footballer, was a member of the Australian House of Representatives representing Lang between 1953 and 1977 and subsequently Grayndler betw ...

and stood for another seat, the marginal

Liberal 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 m ...

seat of

St George Saint George (Greek language, Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin language, Latin: Georgius, Arabic language, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christians, Christian who is venerated as a sa ...

, where he was defeated at the December 1977 election by the sitting Liberal member, Maurice Neil. He attempted a return to federal politics in 1979, but was defeated in a preselection battle for the seat of Grayndler.The Age, 14 May 1979, p. 5
/ref> During his time as a member of the Federal ALP Caucus, Whitlam got to vote for his father as leader twice, the first in January 1976 the month after the 1975 election defeat and in May 1977 when Bill Hayden launched an unsuccessful challenge against him. He returned to the Sydney bar, where he had a successful career.

Judicial appointments

Whitlam was appointed a judge of the

Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indic ...

in 1993. In 1995 he was also appointed a judge of the

Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory The Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory is the highest court of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It has unlimited jurisdiction within the territory in Civil law (common law), civil matters and hears the most serious Criminal ...

. Whitlam was one of only six politicians to have served in both the

Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislature, legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the ...

and the

, alongside

Nigel Bowen Sir Nigel Hubert Bowen, AC, KBE, QC (26 May 191127 September 1994) was an Australian lawyer, politician and judge. He was a member of the Liberal Party and served in the House of Representatives from 1964 to 1973, representing the New South W ...

Robert Ellicott Robert James Ellicott, (15 April 1927 – 31 October 2022) was an 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 ...

Merv Everett Mervyn George Everett (7 October 1917 – 27 October 1988) was an Australian politician and judge. Born in Hobart, Tasmania, Everett was educated at the University of Tasmania before becoming a barrister. In 1964, he was elected to the Tasmania ...

, John Reeves and

Duncan Kerr Duncan James Colquhoun Kerr, SC (born 26 February 1952) is a barrister. He is a former justice of the Federal Court of Australia. He also served as President of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal from 2012 to 2017. Kerr was previously a poli ...

. After retiring from his judgeships, Whitlam returned again to the bar.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitlam, Tony 1944 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Children of prime ministers of Australia Gough Whitlam Judges of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Grayndler Judges of the Federal Court of Australia Lawyers from Sydney People educated at Sydney Boys High School Australian King's Counsel 20th-century Australian politicians Politicians from Sydney Australian National University alumni