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Sir Robert Garran: Medio Tutissimus Ibis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2025

Stephen Gageler AC
Stephen Gageler AC*
Affiliation:
Justice of the High Court of Australia
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Abstract

Sir Robert Randolph Garran (10 February 1867-11 January 1957) played a unique role in the early development of the Commonwealth. As Secretary to the Drafting Committee of the Australasian Federal Convention of 1897 and 1898, he was intimately involved in the process by which the Australian Constitution was produced. As Secretary of the Attorney-General's Department from 1901 to 1932, he was responsible for drafting foundational Commonwealth legislation and he played a key part in establishing coherent interpretations of the Constitution in advice to successive Federal Governments. Three aspects of Garran's life and work are explored in this article: the popular movement which established the process by which the Constitution was negotiated, drafted, and submitted to referenda for approval; Garran's tenure and legacy as Secretary of the Attorney-General's Department; and Garran's views on federalism and constitutional law.

Type
Article
Information
Federal Law Review , Volume 46 , Issue 1 , March 2018 , pp. 1 - 17
Copyright
Copyright © 2018 The Australian National University

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Footnotes

This is a revised version of the Geoffrey Sawer Lecture delivered at the Australian National University on 12 October 2017. I thank Natalie Burgess and Glyn Ayres for their research and Jane Reynolds for bringing to my attention the fact that 2017 was the 150th anniversary of Sir Robert Garran's birth.

References

1 ‘A Great Australian’, Canberra Times (Canberra), 12 January 1957, 2; ‘Sir Robert Garran Laid to Rest’, Canberra Times (Canberra), 15 January 1957, 3.

2 SirLatham, John, ‘Sir Robert Garran—An Appreciation’ (1957) 30 Australian Law Journal 494Google Scholar; Bailey, K H, ‘Sir Robert Garran’ (1957) 29 Australian Quarterly 9Google Scholar.

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5 Carmel Meiklejohn (ed), 100 Years: Achieving a Just and Secure Society (Attorney-General's Department, 2001) 13; Sawer, Geoffrey, Australian Federal Politics and Law 1901–1929 (Melbourne University Press, 1956) 4–5Google Scholar.

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7 SirGarran, Robert Randolph, Prosper the Commonwealth (Angus and Robertson, 1958) 143Google Scholar; Meiklejohn, above n 5, 18.

8 Meiklejohn, above n 5, 13.

9 Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, 144.

10 Ibid 158.

11 Law Officers Act 1964 (Cth).

12 Solicitor-General Act 1916 (Cth). See Appleby, Gabrielle, Role of the Solicitor-General: Negotiating Law, Politics and the Public Interest (Hart, 2016) 70–3Google Scholar.

13 Noel Francis, The Gifted Knight: Sir Robert Garran, GCMG, QC (1983) 7. See also Milner, Colin, ‘Robert Randolph Garran and the Creation of the Australian Commonwealth’ in Beaumont, Joan and Jordan, Matthew (eds), Australia and the World: A Festschrift for Neville Meaney (Sydney University Press, 2013) 121, 124CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

14 Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, viii.

15 Bailey, above n 2, 9.

16 Ibid 14.

17 Ibid 15.

18 Geoffrey Sawer, ‘Sir Robert Garran’ (1957) Australian National University News, no 31.

19 Bailey, above n 2, 9; Sawer, ‘Sir Robert Garran’, above n 18. See also Helen Irving, ‘Garran, Robert Randolph’ in Blackshield, Tony, Coper, Michael and Williams, George (eds), The Oxford Companion to the High Court of Australia (Oxford University Press, 2001) 292Google Scholar, 292–3; Parker, above n 6, 622–4.

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22 For a rare exception, see Moore, W Harrison, The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia (Charles F Maxwell, 2nd ed, 1910) 45Google Scholar.

23 Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, 101.

24 Ibid 99.

25 Garran, ‘The Federation Movement and the Founding of the Commonwealth’, above n 20, 439.

26 Garran, ‘Constitution Building’, above n 4, 193.

27 Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, 101.

28 Ibid 102.

29 Official Report of the Federation Conference, Corowa, 31 July and 1 August 1893.

30 Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, 136; Irving, Helen, ‘When Quick Met Garran: The Corowa Plan’ (1998) 32 Papers on Parliament (Department of the Senate, Canberra) 13, 19Google Scholar.

31 Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, 102–3. See Official Report of the Federation Conference, above n 299, 32–3.

32 Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, 103.

33 Ibid. See Official Report of the Federation Conference, above n 299, 37.

34 Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, 137.

35 Garran, ‘Constitution Building’, above n 4, 188.

36 Garran, The Coming Commonwealth, above n 20, 117; Garran, ‘Constitution Building’, above n 4, 193; Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, 103–5. For a rival view, attributing Quick's inspiration to Henry D’Esterre Taylor, see Irving, ‘When Quick Met Garran’, above n 30, 15.

37 Australasian Federation League, Rules and Proposals of the Australasian Federation League (Charles Potter, 1894) 14; Quick and Garran, above n 20, 153; Irving, ‘When Quick Met Garran’, above n 30, 16.

38 Garran, ‘The Federation Movement and the Founding of the Commonwealth’, above n 20, 439.

39 Ibid 437.

40 Francis, above n 13, 181.

41 See generally W G McMinn, ‘Reid, Sir George Houston’ in Serle, Geoffrey (ed), Australian Dictionary of Biography (Melbourne University Press, 1988) vol 11, 347Google Scholar; Crisp, L F, Federation Fathers (Melbourne University Press, 1990) ch 1Google Scholar.

42 Garran, ‘The Federation Movement and the Founding of the Commonwealth’, above n 20, 440.

43 Ibid.

44 Quick and Garran, above n 20, 158–9.

45 Australasian Federation Enabling Act 1895 (NSW); Australasian Federation Enabling Act (South Australia) 1895 (SA); Australasian Federation Enabling Act 1896 (Vic); Australasian Federation Enabling Act of 1896 (WA); Australasian Federation Enabling Act (Tasmania) 1896 (Tas). See generally Williams, above n 21, ch 21.

46 Australasian Federation Enabling Act (Queensland) 1899 (Qld). For an explanation of the path Queensland took to federation, see Anne Twomey, The Constitution—19th Century Colonial Office Document or a People's Constitution?, Parliamentary Research Service, Background Paper No 15 (1994) 9, 16, 24, 26–8.

47 Official Report of the National Australasian Convention Debates, Adelaide, 23 March 1897, 17 (Edmund Barton).

48 Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, 113.

49 Quick and Garran, above n 20, 283.

50 Official Report of the National Australasian Convention Debates, Sydney, 9 April 1891, 943.

51 Quick and Garran, above n 20, 285.

52 Bailey, above n 2.

53 Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, ch XVIII.

54 Ibid ch XIX.

55 Ibid ch XXI.

56 Ibid 323.

57 Statute of Westminster 1931 (UK).

58 Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942 (Cth).

59 Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, ch XII.

60 H F E Whitlam, Sir Robert Garran and Leadership in Public Service (Royal Institute of Public Administration, 1959) 7–8.

61 Meiklejohn, Carmel, Fitting the Bill—A History of Commonwealth Parliamentary Drafting (Office of Parliamentary Counsel, 2012) 12Google Scholar.

62 Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, 145.

63 Ibid 146.

64 Ibid 145. The point is not without contemporary relevance: see X v Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (2007) 226 CLR 630, 651–2 [73] (Kirby J).

65 Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, 146.

66 Bailey, above n 2, 11.

67 Brazil and Mitchell (eds), above n 20, v.

68 Latham, , ‘Sir Robert Garran—An Appreciation’ (1957) 30 Australian Law Journal 494, 495Google Scholar.

69 Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, 155.

70 (1936) 55 CLR 608.

71 Brazil and Mitchell (eds), above n 20, Opinion 2, 3.

72 Clyde Engineering Co Ltd v Cowburn (1926) 37 CLR 466.

73 Brazil and Mitchell (eds), above n 20, Opinion 70, 89–90.

74 Commonwealth, Parliamentary Papers (1903) vol II, 1160.

75 See Sawer, Australian Federal Politics and Law 1901–1929, above n 5, 31–2; Zines, Leslie, ‘The Growth of Australian Nationhood and Its Effect on the Powers of the Commonwealth’ in Zines, Leslie (ed), Commentaries on the Australian Constitution (Butterworths, 1977) 1, 16–19Google Scholar. Brazil and Mitchell (eds), above n 20, Opinions 224, 234, 267, 312.

76 Brazil and Mitchell (eds), above n 20, Opinion 107, 129–35.

77 Victoria v Commonwealth (1975) 134 CLR 338, 396–7.

78 See now Williams v Commonwealth (2012) 248 CLR 156.

79 Brazil and Mitchell (eds), above n 20, 131.

80 Brazil and Mitchell (eds), above n 20; Patrick Brazil and Bevan Mitchell (eds), Opinions of Attorneys-General of the Commonwealth of Australia (Australian Government, 1988) vol 2; James Faulkner et al (eds), Opinions of Attorneys-General of the Commonwealth of Australia (Australian Government, 2013) vol 3.

81 Bailey, above n 2, 11–12.

82 Leslie Zines, ‘Sir Robert Garran’ (Papers on Parliament No 44, Department of the Senate, 2005).

83 Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, 416–17.

84 See, in particular, Llewellyn, K N, ‘The Constitution as an Institution’ (1934) 34 Columbia Law Review 1CrossRefGoogle Scholar. See also Palmer, Matthew S R, ‘Using Constitutional Realism to Identify the Complete Constitution: Lessons from an Unwritten Constitution’ (2006) 54 American Journal of Comparative Law 587CrossRefGoogle Scholar; the Hon JusticeSofronoff, W, ‘Book Reviews: Role of the Solicitor-General’ (2017) 91 Australian Law Journal 683Google Scholar.

85 Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, ix.

86 Ibid 167.

87 See Sir Robert Garran, ‘The Development of the Australian Constitution’ (1924) 40 Law Quarterly Review 202, 203.

88 Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, 167–8. See also Garran, ‘The Development of the Australian Constitution’, above n 87, 203.

89 Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, 168. See also Garran, ‘The Development of the Australian Constitution’, above n 87, 203.

90 Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, viii.

91 Ibid ix.

92 (1904) 1 CLR 91.

93 Amalgamated Society of Engineers v Adelaide Steamship Co Ltd (1920) 28 CLR 129.

94 Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, 192.

95 Ibid 202 (emphasis in original).

96 Ibid 205.

97 See Bryce, James, The American Commonwealth (Macmillan, 1st ed, 1888) vol 1, 372–81Google Scholar. See Gageler, Stephen, ‘James Bryce and the Australian Constitution’ (2015) 43 Federal Law Review 177, 188–9CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

98 Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, 237.

99 Ibid 192.

100 Ibid 193.

101 Ibid 193–4.

102 Ibid 194. See Baxter v Ah Way (1909) 8 CLR 626, 634 (Griffith CJ).

103 Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, 194.

104 New South Wales v Commonwealth (1915) 20 CLR 54.

105 R v Kirby; Ex parte Boilermakers’ Society of Australia (1956) 94 CLR 254.

106 Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, 194–5.

107 Garran, ‘The Development of the Australian Constitution’, above n 87, 217.

108 (1988) 165 CLR 360.

109 Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, 413.

110 Ibid 185.

111 Ibid, referring to W & A McArthur Ltd v Queensland (1920) 28 CLR 530.

112 (1988) 165 CLR 360.

113 (1988) 165 CLR 360, 408 (the Court), quoting Freightlines & Construction Holding Ltd v New South Wales (1967) 116 CLR 1, 5.

114 Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, 205.

115 Metamorphoses, Book II, 137.

116 Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, 203.

117 Ibid 415.

118 Ibid.

119 Ibid 417.

120 Joel 2:28.

121 Garran, Prosper the Commonwealth, above n 7, x.

122 Garran, The Coming Commonwealth, above n 2020, 185.