This biography of Michael Kirby is a welcomed addition to anyone with an interest in the judiciary and Australian society. Dr Brown, a professor of public law at Griffith University has filled an important gap for judicial biographies. Biographies in Australia about judges are not common. Every US Supreme Court justice merits at least one biography. In Australia, one can point to major works about Sir Owen Dixon and Sir Garfield Barwick, however, beyond those two the attention of biographers on those who have sat on the High Court has been low. However, Justice Michael Kirby is in an entirely different category. He has been described as Australia’s first “celebrity judge”. Such a status was brought about by his willingness to write and speak profoundly on a broad range of issues . This excellent work covers many decades from the sixties to now. Relevantly, this book has been reviewed in this journal because Michael Kirby’s first appointment was when he was aged 35 to the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission with the title of Justice. Although did not serve for very long in that industrial tribunal it was a springboard for him to establish his reputation as a public intellectual as Chairman of the Australian Law Reform Commission.

• Venue: PARKROYAL Hotel Darling Harbour

• From: The Australian
• May 13, 2011 12:00AM

FR. LES CASHEN ESSAY COMPETITION 2010

GREAT God of Nations, throned on high,
And yet to us for ever nigh,
The Federal cause be pleased to bless,
And crown the movement with success

This stanza by federalist Reverend Professor Gosman emotively reflects the unique zeitgeist experienced in Australia in the formative years of its federation. The twilight of Australia’s nineteenth century was an era in which the ideals of upstanding statesmen came to the fore, crafting a new nation and defining a distinctive Australian identity. This push by notable individuals for governmental reform is a trait of almost every federal nation in modern history, Australia included. In some, such as the US and Germany, these individuals are sanctified as ‘founding fathers’, and although such people existed in Australia, they are less easily recognised today. Justice Richard Edward O’Connor was one Australian statesman who toiled for federation based on principles of egalitarianism, justice, rationality and democracy.