Tony Whitlam

Antony Philip Whitlam KC (born 7 January 1944) is an Australian lawyer who has been a politician and judge. He is the son of Gough Whitlam (former Prime Minister) and Margaret Whitlam.

The Honourable
Tony Whitlam
KC
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Grayndler
In office
13 December 1975 – 10 December 1977
Preceded byFred Daly
Succeeded byFrank Stewart
Justice of the Federal Court of Australia
In office
1 January 1993 – 1 May 2005
Additional Judge of the Supreme Court of the ACT
In office
7 April 1995 – 30 April 2005
Personal details
Born (1944-01-07) 7 January 1944
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Political partyAustralian Labor Party
Parent(s)Gough Whitlam (father)
Margaret Whitlam (mother)
RelativesFred Whitlam (grandfather)
Bill Dovey (grandfather)
Nicholas Whitlam (brother)
Freda Whitlam (aunt)
William Griffith Dovey (uncle)
Alma materAustralian National University
OccupationLawyer

Early life and education

Whitlam was born in Elizabeth Bay, Sydney,[1] and educated at Sydney Boys High School (1956–60)[2] and the Australian National University in Canberra, where he graduated in law.

Career

Whitlam was called to the New South Wales bar in 1967.[3]

In 1973, he became South East Asia regional counsel for Rank Xerox.[4]

Political career

After several unsuccessful runs for preselection, Whitlam was elected in 1975 to the House of Representatives seat of Grayndler in central Sydney.[5][6][7][8] His father Gough Whitlam was at that time the Leader of the Labor Party and had just been dismissed as Prime Minister by the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr. Labor was heavily defeated but Tony Whitlam easily won Grayndler. He became only the second federal MP to serve in the House at the same time as his father. He is also the only child of an Australian Prime Minister to be a federal MP (Kevin and Brendan Lyons, sons of Prime Minister Joseph Lyons, were Tasmanian state MPs).

In 1977, there was a redistribution of electoral boundaries in New South Wales, and the Division of Lang, adjoining Grayndler, was abolished. Whitlam ceded Labor preselection to the sitting Labor MP for Lang, Frank Stewart and stood for another seat, the marginal Liberal seat of St George, where he was defeated at the December 1977 election by the sitting Liberal member, Maurice Neil.[9][10]

He attempted a return to federal politics in 1979, but was defeated in a preselection battle for the seat of Grayndler.[11]

During his time as a member of the Federal ALP Caucus, Whitlam got to vote for his father as leader twice, the first in January 1976 the month after the 1975 election defeat and in May 1977 when Bill Hayden launched an unsuccessful challenge against him.

He returned to the Sydney bar, where he had a successful career.

Judicial appointments

Whitlam was appointed a judge of the Federal Court of Australia in 1993. In 1995 he was also appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory.[12] Whitlam was one of only six politicians to have served in both the Parliament of Australia and the Federal Court of Australia, alongside Nigel Bowen, Robert Ellicott, Merv Everett, John Reeves and Duncan Kerr.

After retiring from his judgeships, Whitlam returned again to the bar.[3]

References
  1. Hocking, Jenny (2008). Gough Whitlam: A Moment in History, Volume 1. The Miegunyah Press. p. 93. ISBN 9780522855111. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  2. "Members of parliament and legislatures" (PDF). Sydney High School Old Boys Union. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  3. "Barristers - The Hon. Antony Whitlam QC". Sixth Floor. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  4. "Whitlam Appointed". The Sydney Morning Herald. 11 December 1973. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  5. "Tussle in ALP over choice of candidate". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 July 1973. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  6. "Parliamentary Handbook. Historical Information" (PDF). PARLIAMENTARY HANDBOOK OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALI. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  7. "Parliamentary Handbook". Parliament of Australia. p. 319. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  8. "Grayndler – Election 2010". The Tally Room. 10 January 2010. Retrieved 21 January 2010.
  9. "Tony Whitlam "Favoured" in Ballot". The Sydney Morning Herald. 16 October 1977. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  10. "Neil claims support by migrants". The Sydney Morning Herald. 12 December 1977. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  11. The Age, 14 May 1979, p. 5
  12. "Chronological Index of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory". Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory. Archived from the original on 16 May 2009. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
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