Samuel Griffith Society

The Samuel Griffith Society was founded in 1992 by a group led by former Chief Justice of Australia Sir Harry Gibbs, former Senator John Stone, businessman Hugh Morgan and legal academic Greg Craven.[1][2] Named after Sir Samuel Griffith, one of the architects of the Australian Constitution, the society describes its aims as being: "to undertake and support research into [Australia's] constitutional arrangements, to encourage and promote widespread debate about the benefits of federalism, and to defend the present Constitution."[3] It holds annual conferences, runs an annual national constitutional law essay competition and publishes an annual journal of conference proceedings entitled "Upholding the Australian Constitution".[4][5][6]

The Samuel Griffith Society
Established1992
ChairIan Callinan
Executive DirectorXavier Boffa
Websitewww.samuelgriffith.org

It is one of a number of groups including the H. R. Nicholls Society, Bennelong Society and Lavoisier Group, that were promoted by Australian business leader and political activist Ray Evans.[7]

The Society is currently led by former High Court Justice Ian Callinan.[8]

Aims and objectives
  • To oppose the further centralisation of power in Canberra.
  • To restore the authority of Parliament as against that of the Executive.
  • To defend the independence of the Judiciary.
  • To foster and support any reforms of Australia's constitutional arrangements which would help achieve these objectives.
  • To promote discussion on constitutional matters to establish a clear position in support of the decentralisation of government power.
  • To encourage a wider understanding throughout the community of the Constitution and the nation's achievement under it.

The Society's aims have been described by author Dominic Kelly as to pursue "a renewed federalism" and to oppose "the Mabo judgment and the proposed Australian republic."[9]

Current activities

The Samuel Griffith Society has held more than thirty conferences since 1992.[10][11] Recent conference speakers have included former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Chief Justice Susan Kiefel, Senator Amanda Stoker and Senator James Paterson.[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] Conference discussion topics have included the Mabo decision, Australia remaining a constitutional monarchy, the possible introduction of a Bill of rights and the controversial section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.[21][22][23][24]

In 2019, the Society was granted deductible gift recipient status.[25] This was soon followed by the appointment of the Society's first full-time Executive Director.[26]

According to James Allan: "The Society’s members remain stalwart supporters of federalism, in line with the clear and unmistakable intentions of those who drafted our Constitution and worked to see it ratified, and despite the truly abysmal track record of our High Court in federalism disputes since 1920."[27] In recent times, the Society has spoken out against the High Court's decision in Love v Commonwealth.[28] In October 2021, Executive Director Xavier Boffa called for the decision to be reconsidered, describing it as "quite a surprise to many in the legal community, introducing a controversial new notion of nationality detached from birth or naturalisation".[29]

The Society has been criticised as "a temperamentally conservative body concerned with dry constitutional matters."[30] In 2021, the Society's decision to invite controversial One Nation MP Mark Latham to speak at its 32nd conference was derided for failing "to mention his current political party, or the decade he spent representing Labor in Federal Parliament".[31] It has also been linked to conservative efforts to influence judicial appointments in Australia, including the appointment of Justice Simon Steward to the High Court of Australia.[32][33]

See also

References
  1. "About Us".
  2. Kelly, Dominic (2016) Privilege and its discontents, The Monthly
  3. "The Samuel Griffith Society".
  4. National Library of Australia, Catalogue
  5. "Published papers".
  6. Deakin Law Students' Society The National Sir Samuel Griffith Prize 2016
  7. Kelly, Dominic (2019), Political Troglodytes and Economic Lunatics: The Hard Right in Australia, La Trobe University Press, Melbourne, Australia, ISBN 9781743820766, "The H.R. Nicholls Society [...], the Samuel Griffith Society (1992, constitutional issues), the Bennelong Society [...], and the Lavoisier Group [...] were each established by Western Mining Corporation executives Hugh Morgan and Ray Evans, with the assistance of various other figures associated with the political right."
  8. Callinan, Ian (2019) "Concluding Remarks", Upholding the Australian Constitution.
  9. Kelly, Dominic (2019), Political Troglodytes and Economic Lunatics: The Hard Right in Australia The Guardian, "On constitutional issues, the Samuel Griffith Society wanted a renewed federalism, and fought passionately against the Mabo judgment and the proposed Australian republic."
  10. Kelly, Dominic (2019), Political Troglodytes and Economic Lunatics: The Hard Right in Australia, La Trobe University Press, Melbourne, Australia, ISBN 9781743820766, "The Samuel Griffith Society has held thirty conferences since 1992, following the same weekend format as the H.R. Nicholls Society."
  11. Victorian Bar, Samuel Griffith Society Program 2019
  12. https://www.themonthly.com.au/blog/dominic-kelly/2016/17/2016/1471402108/privilege-and-its-discontents Kelly, Dominic (2016) Privilege and its discontents, The Monthly
  13. Abbott, Tony (2018) Address at the Samuel Griffith Society
  14. Kiefel, Susan (2018) The High Court Justices and the Weight of War, High Court of Australia
  15. Merritt, Chris (2020) "Constitution cries out for saviours", The Australian
  16. Merritt, Chris (2021) "Legal basis for border closures fades", The Australian
  17. Martin, Sarah and Karp, Paul (2021) "Gerard Rennick demanding Morrison government challenge Queensland border ban in high court", The Guardian Australia
  18. Karp, Paul (2021) "Government accused of ‘shirking responsibility’ in bid to overturn ruling against Aboriginal deportation", The Guardian Australia
  19. James Paterson
  20. Paterson, James (2020) "Let’s never allow a High Court to usurp parliament", The Australian
  21. National Observer Winter 1999
  22. Kelly, Dominic (2019), Political Troglodytes and Economic Lunatics: The Hard Right in Australia, La Trobe University Press, Melbourne, Australia, ISBN 9781743820766, "From the mid-1980s through until 1993 there were numerous articles on threats to the Constitution and Australia's British institutions, the proposed republic and the Mabo debate, all of which became the central preoccupations of the Samuel Griffith Society."
  23. Australians for Constitutional Monarchy, Leading Federalist Society To Discuss Republic
  24. Merritt, Chris (2018) Silencing alternative opinions is an offensive affront to human rights, The Australian
  25. Lawson, Kirsten (2019), Gifts to conservative think tank Samuel Griffith Society now tax deductible, The Canberra Times
  26. "The Samuel Griffith Society".
  27. Allan, James, (2015). https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2015/09/still-care-constitution/
  28. Merritt, Chris (2020) "Judging the High Court’s justices", The Australian
  29. Karp, Paul (2021) "Government accused of ‘shirking responsibility’ in bid to overturn ruling against Aboriginal deportation", The Guardian Australia
  30. Kelly, Dominic (2016) Privilege and its discontents, The Monthly
  31. Brook, Stephen and Hutchinson, Samantha (2021), Liberal-linked society puts Mark Latham on a pedestal, The Age
  32. Patrick, Aaron (2020) "In epic struggle for the High Court, conservatives find a candidate", Australian Financial Review
  33. Pelly, Michael (2021) "A High Court Steward for conservatives", Australian Financial Review
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