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Gerard Brennan

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The Honourable
Sir Gerard Brennan
AC KBE GBS QC
Chief Justice of Australia
In office
21 April 1995 – 21 May 1998
Nominated byPaul Keating
Appointed byBill Hayden
Preceded byAnthony Mason
Succeeded byMurray Gleeson
Justice of the High Court of Australia
In office
12 February 1981 – 21 April 1995
Appointed byMalcolm Fraser
Preceded byHarry Gibbs
Succeeded byWilliam Gummow
Personal details
Born
Francis Gerard Brennan

(1928-05-22)22 May 1928
Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia
Died1 June 2022(2022-06-01) (aged 94)
Spouse
Patricia O'Hara
​
​
(m. 1953; died 2019)​
Children7, including Frank

Sir Francis Gerard Brennan AC KBE GBS QC (22 May 1928 – 1 June 2022) was an Australian lawyer and jurist who served as the 10th Chief Justice of Australia. As a judge in the High Court of Australia, he wrote the lead judgement on the Mabo decision, which gave rise to the Native Title Act.

Early life and education

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Brennan was born on 22 May 1928, in Rockhampton, Queensland.[1] He was the son of Frank Tenison Brennan, a Labor Party politician, lawyer and judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland.[2][3] He was raised as, and continued to be, a Catholic and has said: "Egalitarianism, tolerance and the respect for conscience are the practical manifestations of faith, hope and charity."[4]

Career

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Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser appointed Brennan to the court in 1981.[3] As a High Court judge, Brennan wrote the lead judgement on the Mabo decision, which overturned the doctrine of terra nullius used to justify the Crown's sovereignty over Australia, replacing it with the doctrine of native title, and thus protecting Aboriginal people's claims to land.[5] This decision eventually gave rise to the Native Title Act.[6] Brennan is also notable for his landmark judgement in Waltons v Maher, which established equitable estoppel as a cause of action in itself.[7]

He was appointed by prime minister Paul Keating to become the 10th Chief Justice of Australia in 1995.[8]

After retirement

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Following his retirement from the High Court, Brennan was a non-permanent judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal (2000-2012)[9] and an external judge of the Supreme Court of Fiji (1999–2000), chancellor of the University of Technology Sydney (1998–2004) and Foundation Scientia Professor of Law at the University of New South Wales (1998). He was an honorary visiting professor of law at the University of New South Wales.

In a 2001 exchange of letters with Archbishop George Pell, he defended the primacy of conscience over obedience to authority.[10]

In June 2021, Brennan intervened in a public debate over a family of asylum seekers, supporting the family with a letter in major newspapers.[11] It begins:

Are other Australians ashamed, as I am? How can Australia, proud of our freedoms, respectful of all our peoples, and insistent on human dignity, inflict cruelty on Australian children as a means of achieving a goal of government policy?[12]

Personal life and death

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In 1953, Brennan married Patricia O'Hara. Lady Brennan died on 3 September 2019.[13] Their first child, Frank Brennan, born in 1954, became a Jesuit priest, a human rights lawyer and an advocate for the rights of Aboriginal peoples.[4][1] He is known for his involvement in the Wik debate when Paul Keating referred to him as "the meddling priest".[14] Their second child, Madeline Brennan KC, is a barrister in Brisbane[15] and has served as a director of a number of Catholic health and education providers. Their third child Dr Anne Brennan is a psychiatrist who came to prominence in the Barrett Adolescent Centre Commission of Inquiry.[16] Their fourth child Tom Brennan SC is a barrister in Sydney.[17] A son Paul was CEO of Polynovo Ltd an ASX listed biotechnology manufacturer until his resignation in 2021. A daughter, Bernadette,[18] is the author of renowned literary biographies This Writing Life: Helen Garner and her Work; and Leaping into Waterfalls: The Enigmatic Gillian Mears.

Brennan died on 1 June 2022 in Sydney, aged 94,[19][1][20] two days before Mabo Day and the 30th anniversary of the Mabo decision.[6][21]

Honours

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In 1981, Brennan was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire[22] and, in 1988, appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in recognition of his service to the law.[23]

Brennan was awarded honorary degrees by the University of Melbourne (Hon. LL.D.), the University of Technology, Sydney (Hon. LL.D.), the University of Queensland (Hon. LL.D.), Griffith University (Hon. D.Univ.), Central Queensland University (Hon. D.Litt.), Trinity College Dublin (Hon. LL.D.) and the Australian Catholic University (Hon LL.D). He was a life fellow of the Australian Academy of Law.[24] He served as chancellor of the University of Technology, Sydney, from 1998 to 2004.[25]

In 2013, Brennan was awarded the Gold Bauhinia Star by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong.[26]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Judge who abolished notion of terra nullius was a dedicated advocate for human rights". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 June 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  2. ^ "History of the Sir Gerard Brennan Chair at the TC Beirne School of Law - TC Beirne School of Law, the University of Queensland". Archived from the original on 2 May 2009. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  3. ^ a b The Oxford Companion to the High Court of Australia. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. 2002. p. 755.
  4. ^ a b "Online Catholics Issue 52 – Comment – Kate Mannix". Onlinecatholics.acu.edu.au. Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  5. ^ Mabo and Others v Queensland (No. 2) [1992] HCA 23 [42] (Brennan J)
  6. ^ a b Radford, Antoinette; Byrne, Elizabeth (2 June 2022). "Gerard Brennan, former High Court Chief Justice who wrote lead judgement on Mabo decision, dies age 94". ABC News. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  7. ^ Waltons Stores (Interstate) Ltd v Maher (1988) 164 CLR 387; 76 ALR 513; 62 ALJR 110
  8. ^ "The National Legal Eagle : Who's Who in the Legal Zoo: Sir Gerard Brennan AC, KBE – Former Chief Justice of the High Court". Epublications.bond.edu.au. 2010. Archived from the original on 9 November 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  9. ^ "Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal – Former Judges – The Honourable Sir Gerard BRENNAN, GBS". Hkcfa.hk. Archived from the original on 30 December 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  10. ^ Pell, George; Brennan, Gerard (2023). "The Pell-Brennan exchange on the primacy of conscience" (PDF). Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society. 44: 128–138. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  11. ^ Crowe, David (11 June 2021). "Deliberate cruelty to punish parents: Former High Court chief justice slams Tamil treatment". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  12. ^ "Obnoxious cruelty towards Tamil girls is un-Australian". The Sydney Morning Herald. 11 June 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2021. The title covers several letters.
  13. ^ "Homily for Patricia Brennan: Fr Frank Brennan SJ", Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  14. ^ "Father Frank Brennan". acu.edu.au. Archived from the original on 29 November 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  15. ^ "Madeline Brennan KC". Roma Mitchell Chambers. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  16. ^ "Report of the Barrett Centre Commission of Inquiry" (PDF). June 2016.
  17. ^ Walker, Paul. "Tom Brennan SC". 13 Wentworth Chambers. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  18. ^ "Bernadette Brennan". Bernadette Brennan. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  19. ^ Radford, Antoinette; Byrne, Elizabeth (2 June 2022). "Gerard Brennan, former High Court Chief Justice who wrote lead judgement on Mabo decision, dies age 94". ABC News. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  20. ^ Pelly, Michael (1 June 2022). "Former High Court chief justice Gerard Brennan dies". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  21. ^ Horn, Emma (3 June 2022). "It is the 30th anniversary of Mabo Day. What is it and why is it significant?". St George & Sutherland Shire Leader. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  22. ^ "Brennan, Francis Gerard: The Order of the British Empire – Knights Commander (Civil)". It's an Honour. Commonwealth of Australia. 3 April 1981. Archived from the original on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  23. ^ "Brennan, Francis Gerard: Companion of the Order of Australia". It's an Honour. Commonwealth of Australia. 26 January 1988. Archived from the original on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  24. ^ "Australian Academy of Law – Member public profile". Australian Academy of Law. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  25. ^ "Timeline". About the University. University of Technology Sydney. 2011. Archived from the original on 11 November 2007. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  26. ^ "Civil And Miscellaneous Lists : Recipients of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Honours and Awards Grand Bauhinia Medal (G.B.M.)". Info.gov.hk. 15 September 2016. Archived from the original on 29 October 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
Legal offices
Preceded by Chief Justice of Australia
1995–1998 		Succeeded by
Academic offices
Preceded by
none
 Chancellor of the University of Technology Sydney
1998–2004 		Succeeded by
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