Ninian Stephen.html



The Right Honourable  Sir Ninian Stephen  KG, AK, GCMG, GCVO, KBE, QC
20th Governor-General of Australia
In office 29 July 1982 – 16 February 1989
Preceded by	Sir Zelman Cowen
Succeeded by	Bill Hayden
Puisne Justice of the High Court of Australia
In office 1 March 1972 – 11 May 1982
Preceded by	Sir Victor Windeyer
Succeeded by	Sir William Deane
Born	15 June 1923 (1923-06-15) (age 85) Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Profession	Barrister and Judge

Sir Ninian Martin Stephen, KG, AK, GCMG, GCVO, KBE, QC (born 15 June 1923) is an eminent Australian. He is a former High Court judge and was the 20th Governor-General of Australia.

Early life

Ninian Martin Stephen was born on 15 June 1923 in Oxfordshire, England. His father, Frederick, who had been a motorcycle courier in the Great War, died before Sir Ninian was a year old, leaving him to be raised by his mother Barbara and with the assistance of Miss Milne, to whom Mrs Stephen was a companion. He migrated to Australia as a child. He was educated at the University of Melbourne, but his studies were interrupted by World War II, in which he served in the Australian Army in New Guinea and Borneo and rising to the rank of lieutenant. He completed his legal studies in 1950, and was called to the Victorian Bar in 1952. By the 1960s he was one of Australia's leading constitutional and commercial lawyers. He was made a Queen's Counsel in 1966.

Judicial career

On 30 June 1970 Stephen was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria, which is the highest ranking court in the Australian State of Victoria. He held this position until 29 February 1972.

Stephen was later appointed as a Justice to the High Court of Australia.

Although Stephen was appointed by a Liberal government, he proved not to be a traditional conservative upholder of states' rights. He joined the "moderate centre" of the court, between the arch-conservatism of Sir Garfield Barwick and the radicalism of Lionel Murphy. In 1982 he was part of the majority that decided on a broad interpretation of the "external affairs power" of the Australian Constitution in the Koowarta case.

Governor-General

In March 1982, Queen Elizabeth II, on the advice of Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, appointed Stephen Governor-General. Like his predecessor, Sir Zelman Cowen, he was a "safe" choice: discreet, politically neutral and with a wide knowledge of constitutional law. When Fraser was defeated by the Labor Party under Bob Hawke in 1983, Stephen had no difficulty working with a Labor government. In 1987 Queen Elizabeth II on the advice of Prime Minister Hawke extended his term by 18 months, as a mark of personal respect and also to allow Bill Hayden (to whom Hawke had promised the position) to leave politics at a time of his choosing.

Sir Ninian Stephen was the only governor-general to approve two double dissolutions - in 1983 (Malcolm Fraser) and 1987 (Bob Hawke).

Later Work

In 1989 Sir Ninian became the first Australian Ambassador for the Environment, and in his three-year term was particularly energetic in working for a ban of mining in Antarctica. In 1991 he undertook one of the most difficult of all tasks when he was appointed chairman of the second strand of the Northern Ireland peace talks. Between 1993 and 1997 he was a judge on the international tribunals investigating war crimes in Yugoslavia and Rwanda. He has also been chairman of the Citizenship Council since 1998.

Honours

Stephen was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1970, and sworn of the Privy Council in 1979. As Governor-General he was made a Knight of the Order of Australia, Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George and Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order. In 1994 Queen Elizabeth II appointed him a Knight of the Garter. He therefore has the unusual distinction of holding five knighthoods and joined Lord Casey as one of the few Australian Knights of the Garter.

In 1983 he received the Legion d'Honneur.

Stephen delivered the first Sir Ninian Stephen Lecture at the University of Newcastle's Law School in 1993, giving his name to this lecture series.

Styles

• Mr Ninian Stephen (1923-1966)
• Mr Ninian Stephen QC (1966-1970)
• The Hon. Ninian Stephen QC (1970-1972)
• The Hon. Sir Ninian Stephen KBE QC (1972-1979)
• The Rt. Hon. Sir Ninian Stephen KBE QC (1979-1982)
• The Rt. Hon. Sir Ninian Stephen AK GCMG GCVO KBE QC (1982-1994)
• The Rt. Hon. Sir Ninian Stephen KG AK GCMG GCVO KBE QC (1994-)

Private Life

Sir Ninian married Valery Sinclair in 1949, and is the father of five daughters. One of his daughters, Mary Stephen, was married to Peter Hayes QC.

References

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (February 2007)

See also

• Judiciary of Australia
• List of Judges of the Supreme Court of Victoria
• Victorian Bar Association
• Australian knights and dames

External links

• Supreme Court of Victoria Website
• The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre website

Offices held

Justices of the High Court of Australia
Chief Justices of Australia
Griffith · Knox · Isaacs · Gavan Duffy · Latham · Dixon · Barwick · Gibbs · Mason · Brennan · Gleeson · French
Puisne Justices
Barton · O'Connor · Higgins · Powers · Piddington · Rich · Starke · Evatt · McTiernan · Williams · Webb · Fullagar · Kitto · Taylor · Menzies · Windeyer · Owen · Walsh · Stephen · Jacobs · Murphy · Aickin · Wilson · Deane · Dawson · Toohey · Gaudron · McHugh · Gummow · Kirby · Hayne · Callinan · Heydon · Crennan · Kiefel
current Justices are in italics