International law and Australian sovereignty.(Latham Lecture)(Transcript)

IT IS A SPECIAL HONOUR to be invited to give the Sir John Latham Memorial Lecture. Sir John Latham's contribution to this country has, I think, been underestimated. Not always fairly, his judicial prowess has sometimes been unfavourably compared with Sir Owen Dixon's.

Lawyers are often criticised, not always justifiably, as being too narrow in focus. That criticism could not fairly be levelled at Sir John. As a student he not only won the Victorian Supreme Court Prize but also graduated in Arts with distinctions in philosophy and logic.

In 1905 he was called to the Bar and commenced to practise. He was certainly not immediately successful--in his first six months he earned one guinea. He was, however, enterprising. He supplemented his income by lecturing on legal subjects as well as on logic at the University of Melbourne, and by writing for the Argus, the London Standard (as its Australian correspondent) and other publications.

Apart from his professional activities Sir John was involved in a host of societies and organisations from the beginning of his professional life, and indeed into retirement, including the Deakinite Liberal Party, the Imperial Federation League, the Education Act Defence League, the Australian Congress for Cultural Freedom, the Australian-American Association, the League of Nations Union, the Free Library Movement of Victoria, the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust, the Victorian Amateur Athletic Association and the Rationalist Society. He served as a director of several companies and was also a sportsman: captain of the Victorian lacrosse team, and a member of the national team.

Sir John Latham volunteered for service in the First World War and was appointed a lieutenant commander in the Naval Reserve. In that capacity he travelled to England as an adviser to Joseph Cook, then the Minister for the Navy, and attended the Imperial Conference in London. He was a member of the Australian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919.

In 1922 he won the federal seat of Kooyong as a Liberal Union candidate and thereafter followed a period of distinguished parliamentary service, as Attorney General, Minister for Industry, Leader of the Opposition, Minister for External Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister. Indeed, had the cards fallen differently he would have been Prime Minister.

One aspect of his career is of particular interest. It has become fashionable to use the expression "engagement with Asia" as if it were a recent idea only--the creation of a limited number of especially perspicacious modern politicians. That is not so. Latham early saw the importance of the region to Australia's national interest. He toured South-East Asia in 1934. Six years later, while he was still Chief Justice, he was appointed Minister to Japan. Thereafter he maintained his interest in world affairs, especially those of the Asia-Pacific region.