Allegra Spender (Wentworth, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to pay tribute to the former member for Wentworth, the Honourable Robert Ellicott AC KC. Although I did not have the pleasure of meeting him, I knew him by reputation—and what a reputation it was! Born in 1929, he graduated from the University of Sydney with degrees in arts and law and was admitted to the bar in 1950, appointed a Queens Council 14 years later, Solicitor-General five years later and then elected to parliament in 1974. Within six months, he was a shadow minister and a year later became Attorney-General, the first and only time a former Solicitor-General has held that office. After two years, he sensationally resigned on a matter of principle but was returned to cabinet three months later as Minister for Home Affairs, a position he held until his retirement from parliament in 1981, after seven years representing Wentworth. Two weeks later, he was sworn in as a judge of the Federal Court of Australia. He later became a judge for the International Olympic Committee and then patron of Gymnastics Australia.

This was a remarkably rapid and impressive career but the record shows it was not a career based around personal advancement and little else. Bob Ellicott clearly felt strongly about Australia and used the offices he held to advance real change in our country. As a parliamentarian, he was a fierce advocate for policies that would genuinely improve the lives of those trapped in poverty, which he argued prevents people from realising their potential in a free society. As home affairs minister, he lay the foundations of what became the Australian Institute of Sport and arguably did more to professionalise Australian sport than anyone else. Both as Attorney-General and as a judge, he helped forge the field Australian administrative law into what we know it today.

Bob Ellicott made significant and lasting contributions to our national story and our national institutions. He set a high bar for what the people of Wentworth could expect from their members. I think we, as Australians and residents of Wentworth, are fortunate indeed that someone with his talent and potential chose to devote so much of their career to public service and to making our country a better place. This example of public service and public contribution is one I will bear in mind throughout my time in this place and beyond.

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