Australian politician, diplomat, lawyer. Educated at the University of Sydney, The Honorable Sir Percy Spender (KCVO, KBE, KStJ, KC) joined the Commonwealth Public Service in 1915 and was admitted to the New South Wales Bar in 1923, becoming a King's Council in 1937. He entered politics two years later, initially standing as the independent member for Warringah. The following year, however, Robert Menzies persuaded him to join his United Australia Party (UAP), a forerunner of the Australian Liberal Party. In 1939 Spender was appointed Assistant Minister to the Treasury and Acting Treasurer, before taking on the position of Treasurer in 1940. Following the September 1940 elections Spender was made Minister for the Army. Although forced out of this position in October 1941 after the collapse of the UAP under Arthur Fadden (Menzies' had resigned earlier in the year), Spender continued to served on the Advisory War Council up until the end of the war.
When Menzies returned to power in 1949 as leader of the newly formed Liberal Party, Spender was made Minister for External Affairs (1949-1951). In this role he led Australian delegations to British Commonwealth conferences and to the United Nations General Assembly. He was even appointed the UN's Vice-President at the time of the general Assembly's fifth session. Spender is also remembered for his role in developing the Colombo Plan (also referred to as the Spender Plan) and in being a signatory at both the ANZUS Pact and the Japanese Peace Treaty (1951).
Upon retiring from politics Spender was appointed Australia's second Ambassador to the United States (1951-58). He then became the first Australian to be appointed to the International Court of Justice in The Hague (1958-67). Between 1964 and 1967 he also acted as president of the Court. Internationally renowned and respected, Spender was conferred an Order of Merit by Italy in 1976 and knighted by the Queen for his services to Australia and the Commonwealth. He was also awarded ten honorary doctorates during his lifetime. His ambition to be appointed to the Privy Council was thwarted in later years, however, due to a personal rift between himself and Prime Minister Menzies.
