Robert James Ellicott, (15 April 1927 – 31 October 2022) was an Australian barrister, politician and judge. He served as

Solicitor-General of Australia The Solicitor-General of Australia is the country's second highest-ranking law officer, after the Attorney-General for Australia. The position is often known as the Commonwealth Solicitor-General in order to distinguish it from the state solicit ...

(1969–1973) before entering 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 ...

at the 1974 federal election as a member 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 ...

. He held senior ministerial office in the Fraser Government, serving as

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 ...

(1975–1977),

Minister for Home Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergenc ...

(1977–1980), the Capital Territory (1977–1980), and Home Affairs and the Environment (1980–1981). He retired from politics to be appointed to 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 ...

, serving as a judge from 1981 to 1983.

Early life

Ellicott was born on 15 April 1927 in

Moree, New South Wales Moree is a town in Moree Plains Shire in northern New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the banks of the Mehi River, in the centre of the rich black-soil plains. The town is located at the junction of the Newell Highway and Gwydir Highway ...

. He attended

Fort Street High School Fort Street High School (FSHS) is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Mixed-sex school, co-educational Selective school (New South Wales), academically selective secondary school, secondary day school, located in Petersh ...

and 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 ...

, graduating

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

and

Bachelor of Laws 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 ...

. Ellicott was admitted to the New South Wales Bar in 1950 and was

from 1969 to 1973. He was appointed

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 1964. 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".

Politics

Ellicott was elected as the

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 ...

member for the

Division of Wentworth The Division of Wentworth is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. History The division was proclaimed in 1900 and was one of the original 65 divisions contested at the first federal election. The division is nam ...

in the 1974 election. He was

in the Fraser Ministry from 1975 to 1977. Ellicott resigned as Attorney-General as a result of a dispute with

Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser (; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983, holding office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Fraser was raised on hi ...

over the payment of costs in the ''

Sankey v Whitlam {{Infobox court case , name=Sankey v Whitlam , court=High Court of Australia , image=Coat of Arms of Australia.svg , date decided=9 November 1978 , full name=Sankey v Whitlam & Ors , citation(1978) 142 CLR 1 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 ...

Rex Connor Reginald Francis Xavier "Rex" Connor (26 January 190722 August 1977) was an Australian politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1963 to his death, representing the Labor Party. He was the Minister for Minerals ...

Jim Cairns James Ford Cairns (4 October 191412 October 2003) was an Australian politician who was prominent in the Labor movement through the 1960s and 1970s, and was briefly Treasurer and Deputy Prime Minister in the Whitlam government. He is best re ...

and

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 ...

, but Fraser disagreed. Ellicott was reappointed to the third Fraser Ministry (1977 to 1980) as

and Minister for the Capital Territory. As home affairs minister he played a key role in the establishment of the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

(AIS), prompted by Australia's poor performance at the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

. In 1978 he also cancelled

Film Australia Film Australia was a company established by the Government of Australia to produce films about Australia in 1973. Its predecessors were the Cinema and Photographic Branch (1913–38), the Australian National Film Board (1939–1955, under diffe ...

'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.David Stratton, ''The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival'', Angus & Robertson, 1980 p16 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

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

Judicial career and later activities

Ellicott is 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

, along with

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 ...

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 ...

Tony Whitlam 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 (former Prime Minister) and Margaret Whitlam. Early life and education Whitlam was born in Elizabet ...

, 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 ...

. He resigned from the court in February 1983, in order to return to the bar and "to take an interest in public affairs again". Writing for ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

'',

Jack Waterford John Edward O'Brien Waterford AM (born 12 February 1952), better known as Jack Waterford, is an Australian journalist and commentator. He has a long affiliation with ''The Canberra Times''. Waterford graduated in law from the Australian Natio ...

assessed him as an "outstanding judge" who had "particularly demonstrated his ability, and his radicalism, in his work in

administrative law Administrative law is the division of law that governs the activities of government agency, executive branch agencies of Forms of government, government. Administrative law concerns executive branch rule making (executive branch rules are gener ...

– the field that he, as a former Attorney-General, played a considerable role in creating". As of 2007 he was an arbitrator on the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its co ...

. On 20 November 2007, he was named as chair of the tribunal to investigate allegations of misbehaviour against the suspended

Chief Justice of Fiji The chief justice is Fiji's highest judicial officer. The office and its responsibilities are set out in Chapter 5 of the 2013 Constitution of Fiji. The Chief Justice is appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister Prime Mi ...

Daniel Fatiaki Taniela (Daniel) Vafo'ou Fatiaki CF (born 1954 in Upu, Motusa District, Rotuma) was the Chief Justice of Fiji from 1 August 2002, when he succeeded Sir Timoci Tuivaga, till 5 December 2008. As Chief Justice, he presided over both the High Co ...

Honours

In May 2006, the

Australian Olympic Committee Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

awarded him the Olympic Order of Merit, particularly in his role of establishing the

when Minister for Home Affairs. In October 2016, he was inducted as a General Member of the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser th ...

. In 2017 Ellicott was appointed a

Companion of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

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.

Personal life

Ellicott was the double cousin of Sir

Garfield Barwick Sir Garfield Edward John Barwick, (22 June 190313 July 1997) was an Australian judge who was the seventh and longest serving Chief Justice of Australia, in office from 1964 to 1981. He had earlier been a Liberal Party politician, serving as a ...

, 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 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 ...

. Ellicott died on 31 October 2022, at the age of 95.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellicott, Bob 1927 births 2022 deaths Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Wentworth Members of the Australian House of Representatives 1975 Australian constitutional crisis Judges of the Federal Court of Australia Australian King's Counsel Australian barristers Solicitors-General of Australia Companions of the Order of Australia Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees 20th-century Australian politicians People educated at Fort Street High School