Introduction

“If ever a society needed the injection of new concepts and new policies, of theories and programs, to replace the old, blind instinctualism, it is Australia at this moment.”

(Profile of Australia by Craig McGregor, Penguin, 1968, Page 378)

This memoir includes my personal journey and the story of the Law Foundation of New South Wales (NSW) of which I was Director, and my dealings with four reforming governments, the Askin and Wran governments in NSW and the Whitlam and Hawke/Keating federally. The Foundation worked closely with all of them, giving impetus and credibility to so many of its achievements.

The election in December 1972 of the Whitlam government (1972-1976) heralded in a much anticipated and much needed era of change and reform for the Australian nation which took off with all the colour and excitement of a giant Catherine wheel. In the typical uncontrolled manner of these much loved and often highly dangerous fireworks, the sparks of reform flew in all directions exciting many, but terrifying others.

This unprecedented 30-year era of reform provides a backdrop to the story I tell. The Law Foundation played an important role in this era, assisting successive governments, both state and Commonwealth in implementing their reform agendas.

The longevity of this remarkable period of reform arose in effect from a “relay”, with the reform baton being handed over to successive governments which continued to complement each other in building the foundations underpinning Australia’s modernisation and economic success.

While the baby boomer generation probably think the nation’s golden era of reform commenced with the election of the Whitlam government, I found that the reform race had actually commenced in NSW with the election in 1965 of the Askin government. It had replaced a worn-out Labor government, which “expired” after 24 years of heavy lifting through the difficult post war years.

Like all good sporting analogies there needs to be a dark horse and, in this case, to many today, the Askin government (1965-1976) was probably the most unlikely entrant. This unexpected and largely unheralded participant set the initial pace with a remarkable record of introducing reforming, innovative and wide-ranging legislation benefiting all levels of the community.

In the legal context, the NSW court system was dragged out of the 1800s into the late 20 th century by the foresight of Attorney General Ken McCaw and his legal colleague, Minister for Justice John Maddison.

The later strong allegations of corruption on Askin’s part tarnished most people’s recollection of his government’s achievements.

A week before Whitlam’s election, I was appointed the first director of the recently established Law Foundation and held that role for the next 23 years, giving me a unique qualification to tell its story. It is interwoven with the politics of the time and also describes how, as a young lawyer, I brought the experience and knowledge gained via a Churchill Fellowship to my role. In early 1972 I had travelled for five months through the US, Canada and the UK learning about the advances in legal aid, law reform and the emerging role of computers to aid this work, all of which were of interest to the Board of this fledgling institution.

The Foundation was a relatively new statutory fund, another of the early reforms promoted by Ken McCaw with the support of the NSW Law Society, intended to undertake research, support law reform activities, provide assistance with legal education and offer greater community access to legal information and legal aid services.

During my time as its Director, the Law Foundation undertook many major projects which left indelible marks on the legal system and gradually changed for the better the way that system met the community’s needs. In addition, the Foundation became the funder of choice for community groups seeking to promote reform and educational initiatives being undertaken to improve access to legal information and grassroots legal services.

The other governments with which the Law Foundation and I had close working relationships included the Wran government, which unexpectedly defeated the 10-year-old Askin government in May 1976, barely six months after the dismissal of the Whitlam government in Canberra. This long serving government continued on successfully following Wran’s retirement, with Barry Unsworth as Premier. It was defeated two years later leaving behind a very impressive 12-year record of much needed good government and reforming legislation.

The other reforming governments which I was to deal with were the Hawke government (1983-1991) and its successor the Keating government (1991-1996).

While Hawke inherited a government in serious financial strife, nevertheless he moved forward with implementing the Prices and Income Accord negotiated with the unions prior to the election backed up by a commitment to implement Medicare.

Keating’s dominant responsibility initially was re-building the economy by structural changes rather than by creative legislative responses to major issues. His solution to funding new initiatives was to sell off government owned assets such as Qantas and Telstra.

The first part of this memoir covers my early life in Cabarita on the banks of the Parramatta River, which ultimately leads me to gaining a law degree from Sydney University and becoming a solicitor. However, when married and in my late twenties, my professional life took an unexpected turn when I was awarded a Churchill Fellowship enabling me to investigate legal aid services in the US, Canada and the UK.

This fortuitous award brought me to the attention of the leadership of the NSW Law Society who were in need of help to bring their new initiative, the Law Foundation, to life. I was honoured by their invitation but also enthusiastic to replicate the roles of similar foundations in the US.

The Law Foundation’s role in injecting new concepts, policies, theories and programs into the Australian landscape would have been music to the ears of the earlier quoted Craig McGregor and other social commentators.

However, I take pride in noting that the Foundation’s groundbreaking work was being observed, recorded and brought to the notice of the wider legal profession by J G Starke QC, editor of the illustrious Australian Law Journal, who noticed and approved when he commented in the Journal in 1988:

“In the two decades of its existence the Foundation has become indubitably the outstanding

institution in Australia in the area of its statutory functions. No other body in the country has such a measure of achievement to its credit or pioneered so many new initiatives to serve the legal needs of community or to ensure that the laws in the community will be administered so as to improve the public welfare.

In the field of legal innovation, it has a record not surpassed by any other institution in the nation. Moreover, but for the flexibility of the Foundation’s approach in the making of its financial grants, some of the finest research projects ever undertaken in Australia would never have seen the light of day.”

This quotation was included in a special edition of the Foundation’s 1992 Annual Report which was released at a function held at the Law Society to mark the 25th anniversary of the Foundation’s establishment in 1967. Excerpt from "Reform – Australia’s Golden Era of Social and Legal Reform 1965 – 1995 The Memoir of a Participant".