{{Short description|Australian public servant, lawyer and judge}} {{Use Australian English|date=March 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Alan Neaves | honorific_suffix = <!-- {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AO}} --> | image = | image_size = | caption = | office = Judge of the Federal Court of Australia | term_start = 11 March 1983 | term_end = 8 January 1995 | office1 = Secretary of the Attorney-General's Department | term_start1 = July 1979 | term_end1 = 11 March 1983 | birth_name = Alan Reginald Neaves | birth_date = {{Birth date|1925|1|8|df=y}} | birth_place = Glebe, New South Wales, Australia | death_date = {{Death date and age|2022|11|25|1925|1|8|df=y}} | death_place = Canberra, Australia | occupation = Public servant | years_active = | parents = | siblings = | spouse = | alma_mater = University of Sydney | children = }}
'''Alan Reginald Neaves''' (8 January 1925 – 25 November 2022)<ref name="death notice">{{cite web |title=Death Notice: Alan NEAVES |url=https://tributes.canberratimes.com.au/obituaries/465271/alan-neaves/?r=https://tributes.canberratimes.com.au/obituaries/canberratimes-au/search/?Query=Alan%20NEAVES |publisher=The Canberra Times |access-date=28 January 2023}}</ref> was an Australian public servant, lawyer and judge, best known for his role as head of the Attorney-General's Department between 1979 and 1983, and as a Federal Court judge between 1983 and 1995.
==Life and career== Neaves was born in January 1925 in the Sydney suburb of Glebe,<ref name="ww2roll">{{cite web |title=NEAVES, ALAN REGINALD |url=https://nominal-rolls.dva.gov.au/veteran?id=970139&c=WW2 |website=World War II Nominal Roll |publisher=Department of Veterans' Affairs |access-date=28 January 2023}}</ref><ref name=Waterford/><ref name=Juddery/><ref name=December1974/> the son of Ida Florence {{Nee|Jones}} and Henry Neaves.<ref name="awm" />
Neaves joined the Attorney-General's Department in 1942. After war service with the Royal Australian Air Force, he graduated in law with first class honours from the University of Sydney in 1948,<ref name="December1974" /><ref name="awm">{{cite web |title=Lieutenant Henry Herbert Neaves |url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P11028600 |publisher=Australian War Memorial |access-date=28 January 2023}}</ref> and was admitted to the New South Wales Bar in 1949.<ref name=Waterford>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article116373259|first=Jack|last=Waterford|author-link=Jack Waterford|date=12 March 1983|newspaper=The Canberra Times|page=1|title=Head of A-G's made judge}}</ref>
In December 1974, Neaves was appointed the next Crown Solicitor, to commence in February 1975.<ref name=December1974>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110793346|title=Legal post|date=20 December 1974|page=9|newspaper=The Canberra Times}}</ref> The post came after five years in Sydney as head of the Deputy Crown Solicitor's Office.<ref name=Juddery>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110564979|title=New A-G head named: Foreign Affairs job for Harders likely|date=4 July 1979|page=3|newspaper=The Canberra Times|first=Bruce|last=Juddery|author-link=Bruce Juddery}}</ref>
He was appointed Secretary of the Attorney-General's Department in July 1979.<ref name=Juddery/>
In 1980 then Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser set up a Royal Commission into the activities of the Painters and Dockers Union, appointing Frank Costigan as Royal Commissioner.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.themonthly.com.au/blog/mungo-maccallum/2014/03/2014/1391395876/another-royal-commission|date=3 February 2014|first=Mungo|last=MacCallum|author-link=Mungo Wentworth MacCallum|title=Another Royal Commission?|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150308011147/http://www.themonthly.com.au/blog/mungo-maccallum/2014/03/2014/1391395876/another-royal-commission|archivedate=8 March 2015|newspaper=The Monthly}}</ref> The Costigan Commission inquiry period lasted until 1984, and in the process the Attorney-General's Department came under fire from the Labor Party after criticism by the commission.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article116375275|title=Mr Justice Neaves Sworn in|date=24 March 1983|newspaper=The Canberra Times|page=7}}</ref> When the Labor Party was elected and Bob Hawke became Prime Minister, among the new Government's first order of business was to remove Neaves from his position as Secretary of the Attorney-General's Department. He was appointed a judge of the Federal Court on 11 March 1983.<ref name=Waterford/>
Neaves remained a Judge of the Federal Court until 8 January 1995, when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 70.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.fedcourt.gov.au/about/judges/former-judges|title=Former Judges of the Court: Appointments and retirements|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140302114549/http://www.fedcourt.gov.au/about/judges/former-judges|archivedate=2 March 2014|publisher=Australian Government|author=Federal Court of Australia}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-gov}} {{s-bef|before=Clarrie Harders}} {{s-ttl|title=Secretary of the Attorney-General's Department|years=1979–1983}} {{s-aft|after=Pat Brazil}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neaves, Alan}} Category:1925 births Category:2022 deaths Category:Judges of the Federal Court of Australia Category:Secretaries of Australian Government departments Category:20th-century Australian public servants Category:Australian barristers Category:Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Category:Sydney Law School alumni