AustLit

'For more than thirty years, Tom Hughes, a scion of a notable Sydney family of high achievers, was one of Australia’s top barristers, renowned, respected and sometimes feared for his dominating presence in the courtroom. Equally at home in all jurisdictions, his theatrical style, command of language and forensic skills filled public galleries, exposed witnesses, persuaded juries and ensured that judges paid attention. An icon of the Sydney and Australian Bar, he appeared in a raft of celebrated cases, became the subject of many media profiles and was, from the 1970s to the 1990s, the country’s most expensive advocate. In addition to published material, the book draws on a huge trove of personal records, including fee books, intimate diaries, autobiographical jottings and private correspondence, supplemented by interviews with Hughes, his family, friends and colleagues. Using these sources, the book provides insights into a many-sided character – telling the story of how Hughes and his immediate forebears embraced more of their English than their Irish heritage while becoming distinctively Australian. It also offers a personal perspective on several decades of Australian political, social and legal history.' (Publication summary)

'This collection of essays explores the history and current status of proposals to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in the Constitution of Australia. The book had its genesis in a colloquium co-hosted by the University of Southern Queensland and Southern Cross University, attended by scholars from Australia and overseas and prominent participants in the recognition debates. The contributions have been updated and supplemented to produce a collection that explores what is possible and preferable from a variety of perspectives, organised into three parts: 'Concepts and Context', 'Theories, Critique and Alternatives', and 'Comparative Perspectives'. It includes work by well-regarded constitutional law scholars and legal historians, as well as analysis built from and framed by Indigenous world views and knowledges. It also features the voices of a number of comparative scholars - examining relevant developments in the United States, Canada, the South Pacific, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and South America. The combined authorship represents 10 universities from across Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. The book is intended to be both an accurate and detailed record of this critical step in Australian legal and political history and an enduring contribution to ongoing dialogue, reconciliation and the empowerment of Australia's First Peoples.' (Publication summary)

'J M Bennett’s new biography shows the mercurial figure of Lilley to be one of the giants of colonial Australia, a politician who took on the squatter class and forced democratic reform, earning the enduring, virulent hatred of his opponents; a Chief Justice of brilliant calibre until his one disastrous mistake.

'“Sir Charles Lilley has proven a polarising figure, often subject to caricature and ridicule. As Dr Bennett observes, the record of Lilley’s formidable achievements has been distorted by adversaries, particularly the mostly hostile press of the time, or overshadowed by some infamous errors of judgment. All of this has to date inhibited a balanced appraisal of his life. Dr Bennett’s biography goes a long way towards redressing the imbalance.' (Publication summary)

'Courtroom tactician, devastating in reply, intimidating and intense. Murray Gleeson has been described as many things, but his grim work persona gave him the label that stuck – The Smiler.

'Born in a small country town in NSW, Gleeson became the nation’s top barrister and its leading judge. In a legal career spanning over 50 years, he had a ringside seat for political, legal and social events that shaped Australia – the final separation from Mother England, legalised abortion, the dismissal of the Whitlam government, the Tasmanian Dams Case, the Fine Cotton substitution, the scandalous attack on Justice Michael Kirby, the war on terrorism, prisoners’ right to vote and the detention of refugees.

'The Smiler draws on more than 100 interviews with the man himself and his family, friends and judicial colleagues, including those who sat with him on the High Court. It is an unprecedented insight into a legend of the Australian legal system.' (Publication summary)

• Exclusive access to over 117 metres of personal and official papers, dating back to the 1940s
• Interviews with more than 30 of Michael Kirby's closest relatives and colleagues
• Independent research into how falsified records came to be used in Parliament in a direct attack on a High Court judge,

• Unprecedented access to the working materials of a High Court judge, including draft judgments and papers normally shredded within judicial chambers.' (From the publisher's website.)
  

'Sir Alfred Stephen (1802-1894) was descended from generations of Stephens celebrated in England for their contributions to the law, literature, politics and public administration. A creature of the nineteenth century, Sir Alfred personified its values. Born at St Kitts, educated in England and there called to the Bar, he at first progressed so slowly that he decided to return to the colonies. As a pioneer Crown Law Officer in Tasmania he was ambitious, aggressive, and astonishingly successful financially. But, lacking tact, he fell out with the Lt-Governor and the judiciary.

'Taking another chance, he accepted a temporary judgeship at Sydney (1839), won immediate respect, and became Chief Justice (1844), serving with great accomplishment until 1873 - a term never equaled in New South Wales. He was first President of the Legislative Council after Responsible Government (1856), returning to the Council on resigning as Chief Justice. His many public services included being Lt-Governor; helping to establish The University of Sydney; and supporting such institutions as hospitals, museums and art galleries. Despite the difficulty, on a fixed income, of providing for his many children, he was great philanthropist. His name and works, now much forgotten, but of world renown in his day, are recalled in this biography by Dr John Michael Bennett, AM, whose project to write it was awarded the 2006 News South Wales History Fellowship.'  (Publication summary)

'This book is the most fundamental analysis of native title in the common law world since McNeil's Common Law Aboriginal Title in 1989. Through a broad and detailed examination of the jurisprudence across Australia, USA, New Zealand and Canada, it argues that the Australian preoccupation with `tradition' is a deeply flawed approach. Dr Young points to many technical problems and a raft of unfortunate consequences for Indigenous people. He contends for a fundamental rethink.
'"Dr. Young's book fills a huge gap in the legal understanding of Indigenous land rights... While his focus is on Australia, the book's comparative approach extends its relevance to all common law jurisdictions that are inhabited by Indigenous peoples. Everyone who is concerned with Indigenous rights - Indigenous leaders, judges, lawyers, land-claims negotiators, policy makers - will benefit enormously from reading it." - Professor Kent McNeil 
"Dr Young has undertaken a comprehensive analysis of the `traditional laws and customs' focus that dominates the recognition of native title in Australian law - but the importance of his work extends far beyond the legal sphere. In showing how the `tradition' approach is not supported by the weight of legal principle and is out of step with overseas precedent, he opens the way for a reconsideration of how Indigenous rights to land are, and should be, recognised." - Ambelin Kwaymullina'  (Publication summary)

'"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free ..." How has Australia risen to Emma Lazarus' great challenge? 
'This overview of the historical, social and political contexts that have shaped Australia's recent treatment of asylum seekers offers a clear-eyed view of the many dimensions of the asylum seeker predicament, including its psychological and humanitarian consequences, and lays out an agenda for change in policy. 
'Sir Gustav Nossal, the Rt Hon. Malcolm Fraser, Senator Lyn Allison, Phillip Adams, Professor Stuart MacIntyre, and Lindsay Tanner MP introduce the six sections. Julian Burnside QC, Dr Carmen Lawrence, Peter Mares, Pamela Curr, Michael Clyne, Linda Briskman, Derrick Silove, Michael Gordon, Arnold Zable and David Manne are among the contributors to the 20 chapters. 
'Yearning to Breathe Free is a passionate but informed work that is multi-faceted, thought-provoking, and ultimately hopeful. '  (Publication summary)

'George Higinbotham’s extreme and uncompromising radical views and mesmerizing oratory have made him an iconic figure in Victoria’s colonial history – the darling of the liberals and the left. John Bennett has written a major re-assessment of this giant who was a dominating figure from the 1850s until his death in 1892.

'Higinbotham was successively a gold digger who found no gold; a barrister who found few briefs; a crusading editor of Melbourne’s Argus; an independent member of Parliament who opposed political parties and ferociously attacked the “squatter” dominated Legislative Council and the Colonial Office; an overtly democratic Attorney-General who advocated government without supply; and Chief Justice of Victoria when his political dreams all foundered.

'Yet he drew others to him as a Pied Piper. He was a mass of contradictions. Extraordinarily charitable to beggars, he treated his family miserably. A failure in achievement, he retained an enormous popularity which has endured for over a century.'  (Publication summary)

'Intelligence, ambition and self-belief took Martin, the son of the Governor's Irish groom, to the pinnacles of colonial law and politics. He is the only man to have been both been Premier and Chief Justice of New South Wales. He made his name as a fierce and partisan contributor to the vitriolic political debates of the 1840s.'   (Publication summary)

'Saturday, 19 March 1932, the day of the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, one of the most significant occasions in the history of the city of Sydney. The public mood, however, was apprehensive more than it was festive. As one senior journalist later reflected, `the city was jumpy, jumpy as I've never known it since'. For one thing, the leader of the right-wing New Guard had vowed that Premier Lang would not open the Bridge. The police and security authorities were concerned that the New Guard might kidnap the premier, and stage a coup d'etat. All eyes scanned the horizon, awaiting the approach of an angry right-wing mob.
'Into these confused and tense circumstances rode a lone horseman, wielding an ex-cavalry sword. He was Captain Francis De Groot, a former Hussar and Irishman- also a senior member of the New Guard. Slashing the ribbon with his sword he declared the Sydney Harbour Bridge open `in the name of the decent and respectable people of New South Wales'.
'Relying upon hitherto unused archival material, as well as manuscripts found in Ireland, Andrew Moore tells the story of the Bridge opening in all its colourful detail. This sheds fresh light on the bizarre circumstances that had brought New South Wales to the brink of civil war.
'Irish Fascist. Australian Legend is also the first biography to be published of Francis De Groot. The handsome, enigmatic Irishman grew up in Dublin, a member of an elite Irish Huguenot family. Prior to World War One he worked as a merchant seaman, coal lumper and antique dealer. After serving on the Western Front, he returned to Sydney to manufacture reproduction furniture of the finest quality.
Captain De Groot became part of Australian folklore for his part in the Harbour Bridge opening. Yet, through furniture and antiques, his contribution to the cultural life of his adopted city and country was as profound as his celebrated role in opening Sydney's famous `Coathanger'.'   (Publication summary)
 

'In 1842, a young Anglo-Irish barrister, finding there were “40 hats on the Munster circuit but not enough work for 20”, set sail for the even younger settlement of Melbourne. William Stawell quickly made his mark in the nascent city, becoming Attorney-General within 10 years. He was a leading political figure and Governor Hotham’s chief adviser, as the colony moved towards self-government in the heady, unstable prosperity of the gold rush. He was, wrote the Argus, “The Government”.

'The catastrophic treason trials following the Eureka Rebellion should have sent Stawell to political oblivion – but they did not and, soon after, he was elected to the first Victorian Parliament under the new Constitution he had helped to write. A year later, in 1857, he manoeuvred himself into position as the Colony’s second Chief Justice, serving with great distinction for almost 30 years.

'The foreword to this biography comments “as a judge, and Chief Justice, Stawell was ideal for his times”. Dr Bennett reveals Stawell as an epitome of Victorian manly virtues: intellect, ambition, energy, bravery, charm, compassion. He shows why detractors would add arrogance, impatience and ruthlessness, and why history sustains the contemporary verdict on Stawell’s death in 1889: “one may see in the life now terminated the history of Victoria personified”'  (Publication summary)

'Jessie Street was a key figure in Australian political life for over 50 years. She was the only Australian woman delegate at the founding of the United Nations in 1945; the initiator of the 1967 ?Aboriginal? amendment of the Australian Constitution; the colleague of Pablo Picasso on the World Peace Council Executive; and a controversial promoter of the Soviet Union during the Cold War, known as ?Red Jessie? to a generation of Australians. She led an extraordinary, vivid life. Her autobiography, written with candour and humour, is a guidebook to the 20th century. From Jessie?s early life in the Australian bush, readers join suffragette marches in London; hear civil rights singers in the jazz clubs of New York; visit occupied Egypt, imperial India, outback Australia, Stalin?s Moscow; witness the Anschluss and Sudetenland crises in Europe in 1938; and see the destroyed cities of London, Berlin, Leningrad, and Hiroshima after the Second World War. Her life was one dedicated to peace and justice. The daughter-in-law, wife and mother of three Chief Justices, she met and worked with extraordinary figures such as Eleanor Roosevelt, Nancy Astor, Margaret Sanger, Jawaharal Nehru and many others. Her autobiography, first published in 1966, is now reissued, corrected and edited, a sparkling, powerful, bright book that truly reflects Jessie Street?s energy, charm and practical humanitarianism.' (Publication summary)

'James Cockle was a brilliant mathematician, a future Fellow of the Royal Society, appointed Chief Justice of Queensland in the most stormy and unpromising of circumstances.

'When he came to Queensland in 1863, relations between the government and A.J.P Lutwyche, the resident Supreme Court Judge, were in a state of turmoil.  Lutwyche, whose expectation of promotion to Chief had been dashed, had recently declared Queensland's infant Parliament and all its Acts invalid. The Law Officers in England agreed and Lutwyche continued to attack the government, looking for other legislation to invalidate. The Queensland Government begged the Colonial Office to find a Chief Justice in England and Cockle was appointed.

'Conciliatory, dignified, scrupulously impartial, and proficient as a lawyer, Cockle calmed the storms left by Lutwyche - and calmed Lutwyche who continued to sit on the bench as junior judge. Yet he was an enigmatic figure who was poorly recognised by Queensland governments. Poorly paid (Lutwyche had the higher salary), he resigned and returned to England and mathematical studies shortly after he qualified for a pension in 1878.'  (Publication summary)

'The Black Grapevine tells the extraordinary story of Indigenous efforts to stop children becoming part of the 'stolen generations' and to end the government policies and practices which destroyed their families.

'Linda Briskman uses the story of the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Island Child Care (SNAICC) to centre her book. Indigenous people involved tell how they came together to form a national organisation for child care, how they found similar experiences from one end of Australia to the other, how they pooled experience and emotion to provide support for one another, how they lobbied for a national inquiry.

'And they campaigned. Indigenous activists fought with astonishing resilience for recognition of past and present practices, for the right to have Indigenous viewpoints to the forefront, and for resources.

'Briskman's story goes beyond the contest with the state to give a convincing portrait of the ways in which Indigenous groups worked. There are connections with international action, educational and fund-raising projects, and the much-vaunted annual Aboriginal and Islander Children's Day.

'She concludes by reflecting on the successes of campaigns and actions to date, and the extent of 'unfinished business'. Her strong academic background combines with the oral testimony of the activists to produce a fast-moving book that is both entertaining and rigorous.' (Publication summary)