{{Short description|Australian politician and judge (1927–2022)}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = The Honourable | name = Bob Ellicott | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|AC,|KC}} | image = Bob Ellicott 1974 (cropped).jpg | caption = Ellicott in 1974 | office = Judge of the Federal Court of Australia | term_start = 2 March 1981 | term_end = 24 February 1983 | office1 = Attorney-General of Australia | prime_minister1 = Malcolm Fraser | term_start1 = 22 December 1975 | term_end1 = 6 September 1977 | predecessor1 = Kep Enderby | successor1 = Peter Durack | office2 = Solicitor-General of Australia | prime_minister2 = John Gorton<br>William McMahon<br>Gough Whitlam | term_start2 = 1969 | term_end2 = 1973 | predecessor2 = Anthony Mason | successor2 = Maurice Byers | office3 = Minister for Home Affairs and the Environment | prime_minister3 = Malcolm Fraser | term_start3 = 3 November 1980 | term_end3 = 17 February 1981 | predecessor3 = ''Himself'' <small>(Home Affairs)</small><br/>David Thomson <small>(Environment)</small> | successor3 = Michael MacKellar | office4 = Minister for Home Affairs | prime_minister4 = Malcolm Fraser | term_start4 = 20 December 1977 | term_end4 = 3 November 1980 | predecessor4 = New position | successor4 = ''Himself'' | office5 = Minister for the Capital Territory | prime_minister5 = Malcolm Fraser | term_start5 = 20 December 1977 | term_end5 = 3 November 1980 | predecessor5 = Tony Staley | successor5 = Michael Hodgman | office6 = Member of the Australian Parliament for Wentworth | predecessor6 = Les Bury | successor6 = Peter Coleman | term_start6 = 18 May 1974 | term_end6 = 17 February 1981 | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1927|4|15}} | birth_place = Moree, New South Wales, Australia | death_date = {{death date and age|2022|10|31|1927|4|15|df=yes}} | death_place = | spouse = | party = Liberal | relations = | children = | alma_mater = University of Sydney | occupation = Barrister | profession = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }}
'''Robert James Ellicott''', {{post-nominals|country=AUS|sep=,|size=100%|AC|KC}} (15 April 1927 – 31 October 2022) was an Australian barrister, politician and judge. He served as Solicitor-General of Australia (1969–1973) before entering the House of Representatives at the 1974 federal election as a member of the Liberal Party. He held senior ministerial office in the Fraser government, serving as Attorney-General (1975–1977), Minister for Home Affairs (1977–1980), the Capital Territory (1977–1980), and Home Affairs and the Environment (1980–1981). He retired from politics to be appointed to the Federal Court of Australia, serving as a judge from 1981 to 1983.
==Early life== Ellicott was born on 15 April 1927 in Moree, New South Wales.<ref name=aph>{{cite news|url=https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22handbook%2Fallmps%2FYF6%22|title=Biography for ELLICOTT, the Hon. Robert James, QC|publisher=Parliament of Australia|access-date=6 September 2020}}</ref> He attended Fort Street High School and the University of Sydney,<ref>[https://sahof.org.au/hall-of-fame-member/bob-ellicott/ Sports Australia Hall of Fame - Bob Ellicott]</ref> graduating Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws.<ref name=aph/>
Ellicott was admitted to the New South Wales Bar in 1950 and was Solicitor-General of Australia from 1969 to 1973.<ref>{{cite web | title =Board of Directors | publisher =Life Education Australia | url =http://www.life-educationaustralia.com.au/main/doc_display.asp?PageID=25 | accessdate =21 September 2007 | url-status =dead | archiveurl =https://web.archive.org/web/20070831102959/http://www.life-educationaustralia.com.au/main/doc_display.asp?PageID=25 | archivedate =31 August 2007 }}</ref> He was appointed Queen's Counsel (QC) in 1964.<ref name=aph/> As solicitor-general, Ellicott "played a major role in leading the High Court to significantly more liberal interpretations of Commonwealth powers vis-a-vis the States".<ref name=waterford>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/116444026|title=Ellicott: profile of an outstanding judge|newspaper=The Canberra Times|first=Jack|last=Waterford|date=19 January 1983}}</ref>
==Politics== thumb|upright|Ellicott in 1970 Ellicott was elected as the Liberal member for the Division of Wentworth in the 1974 election.<ref>{{cite web |title=Members of the House of Representatives since 1901 |publisher=Parliament of Australia |work=Parliamentary Handbook |url=http://www.aph.gov.au/library/handbook/historical/representatives/courtnay.forrest.htm |accessdate=21 September 2007 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070901113632/http://www.aph.gov.au/library/handbook/historical/representatives/courtnay.forrest.htm |archivedate=1 September 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He was Attorney-General in the Fraser Ministry from 1975 to 1977. Ellicott resigned as Attorney-General as a result of a dispute with Malcolm Fraser over the payment of costs in the ''Sankey v Whitlam'' case,<ref>{{cite AustLII|HCA|43|1978|litigants=Sankey v Whitlam |parallelcite=(1978) 142 CLR 1 | date = 9 November 1978 |courtname=High Court}}.</ref> where he believed that the Commonwealth should have paid the costs of the private individual, Danny Sankey, as well as those of the politicians, Gough Whitlam, Rex Connor, Jim Cairns and Lionel Murphy, but Fraser disagreed.<ref>{{cite journal | first=Andrew | last=Leigh | title=The successful Attorney General – an oxymoron? | journal=Australian Law Journal | volume=73 | issue=2 | year=1999 | url=http://econrsss.anu.edu.au/~aleigh/pdf/AttorneyGeneral(ALJ).pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050515060105/http://econrsss.anu.edu.au/~aleigh/pdf/AttorneyGeneral(ALJ).pdf | url-status=dead | archive-date=15 May 2005 | accessdate=21 September 2007 }}</ref>
Ellicott was reappointed to the third Fraser Ministry (1977 to 1980) as Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for the Capital Territory. As home affairs minister he played a key role in the establishment of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), prompted by Australia's poor performance at the 1976 Summer Olympics.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://sahof.org.au/ellicott-created-an-institute-and-with-it-a-vision-for-australian-sport/|title=Ellicott created an Institute and with it a vision for Australian sport|publisher=Sport Australia Hall of Fame|access-date=6 September 2020}}</ref> In 1978 he also cancelled Film Australia's funding of a film adaptation of ''The Unknown Industrial Prisoner'' on the grounds it was uncommercial, a rare instance of political interference in the Australian film industry.<ref name="stratton">David Stratton, ''The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival'', Angus & Robertson, 1980 p16</ref><ref>Rod Bishop & Peter Beilby, "Ken Cameron", ''Cinema Papers'', March–April 1979 p 258</ref> He was later Minister for Home Affairs and the Environment from November 1980 until his resignation on 17 February 1981 to become a judge on the Federal Court of Australia.
Ellicott is the only person to serve both as Solicitor-General and Attorney-General.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22handbook%2Fallmps%2FYF6%22|title = ParlInfo - Search Results}}</ref>
==Judicial career and later activities== Ellicott is one of only six politicians to have served in both the Parliament of Australia and the Federal Court of Australia, along with Nigel Bowen, Merv Everett, Tony Whitlam, John Reeves and Duncan Kerr. He resigned from the court in February 1983,<ref>{{cite web |title=Alphabetical list of former judges |publisher=Federal Court of Australia |url=http://www.fedcourt.gov.au/aboutct/jj_former.html |accessdate=21 September 2007 }}</ref> in order to return to the bar and "to take an interest in public affairs again".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/116444046|title=Ellicott resigns from the bench|first=Jack|last=Waterford|newspaper=The Canberra Times|date=19 January 1983}}</ref> Writing for ''The Canberra Times'', Jack Waterford assessed him as an "outstanding judge" who had "particularly demonstrated his ability, and his radicalism, in his work in administrative law – the field that he, as a former Attorney-General, played a considerable role in creating".<ref name=waterford/>
As of 2007 he was an arbitrator on the Court of Arbitration for Sport.<ref>{{cite web |title=Arbitrators |publisher=Court of Arbitration for Sport |url=http://www.tas-cas.org/en/membres/frmmemb.htm |accessdate=21 September 2007 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070826004936/http://www.tas-cas.org/en/membres/frmmemb.htm |archivedate=26 August 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> On 20 November 2007, he was named as chair of the tribunal to investigate allegations of misbehaviour against the suspended Chief Justice of Fiji, Daniel Fatiaki.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fatiaki tribunal named |work=Fiji Times |url=http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=74720 |accessdate=20 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223082910/http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=74720 |archive-date=23 February 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Honours== In May 2006, the Australian Olympic Committee awarded him the Olympic Order of Merit, particularly in his role of establishing the Australian Institute of Sport when Minister for Home Affairs.<ref name=aoc>{{cite web|title=Kemp and Ellicott awarded Olympic Order of Merit|url=http://corporate.olympics.com.au/A83FF544-5056-B031-6AEF43A628DE83D9|work=Australian Olympic Committee News|accessdate=8 April 2013}}</ref> In October 2016, he was inducted as a General Member of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.<ref>{{cite web|title=King Wally becomes a Legend as Michelle Payne rides off with the 'The [sic] Don'|url=https://sahof.org.au/king-wally-becomes-a-legend-as-michelle-payne-rides-off-with-the-the-don/|website=Sport Australia Hall of Fame website|date=14 October 2016 |accessdate=27 September 2020}}</ref> In 2017 Ellicott was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia for eminent service to the Parliament of Australia, particularly as Attorney-General, to legal practice and innovative policy development, to advancements in global trade law, and to the international arbitration of sporting disputes.<ref name=AC>{{cite web |url=http://www.gg.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/honours/ad/ad2017/slkh83xzcb/AC%20Final%20Media%20Notes.pdf |title=Companion (AC) in the General Division of the Order of Australia |work=Australia Day 2017 Honours List |publisher=Governor-General of Australia |date=26 January 2017 |accessdate=26 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129003426/https://www.gg.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/honours/ad/ad2017/slkh83xzcb/AC%20Final%20Media%20Notes.pdf |archive-date=29 January 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Personal life== Ellicott was the double cousin of Sir Garfield Barwick, who like him attended Fort Street and the University of Sydney, was also an Attorney-General, and was later Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/with-nod-and-wink-to-past-its-more-fodder-for-maintaining-the-rage-20120830-253c5.html|title = With nod (And wink) to past, it's more fodder for maintaining the rage|date = 30 August 2012}}</ref>
Ellicott died on 31 October 2022, at the age of 95.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-11-05 |title=Robert James Ellicott: Death Notice – Sydney, New South Wales |url=https://tributes.smh.com.au/obituaries/462602/robert-james-ellicott/?r=https://tributes.smh.com.au/obituaries/smh-au/search/?Query=ellicott |access-date=2022-11-04 |website=Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=AOC mourns loss of The Honourable Robert James "Bob" Ellicott AC KC |url=https://www.olympics.com.au/news/aoc-mourns-loss-of-the-honourable-robert-james-bob-ellicott-ac-kc/ |access-date=4 November 2022 |publisher=Olympics.com.au |date=4 November 2022}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=Ivor Greenwood}} {{s-ttl|title=Attorney General of Australia |years=1975–1977}} {{s-aft|after=Peter Durack}} {{s-bef|before=Tony Staley}} {{s-ttl|title= Minister for the Capital Territory |years=1977–1980}} {{s-aft|after=Michael Hodgman}} {{s-new|rows=2|}} {{s-ttl|title= Minister for Home Affairs |years=1977–1980 }} {{s-aft|rows=2| after=Michael MacKellar}} {{s-ttl|title= Minister for Home Affairs and the Environment |years=1980–1981}} {{s-par|au}} {{succession box | title=Member for Division of Wentworth | before= Les Bury | after= Peter Coleman | years=1974–1981 }} {{s-gov}} {{s-bef|before=Anthony Mason}} {{s-ttl|title=Solicitor-General of Australia|years=1969–1973}} {{s-aft|after=Maurice Byers}} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellicott, Bob}} Category:1927 births Category:2022 deaths Category:Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Wentworth Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives Category:1975 Australian constitutional crisis Category:Judges of the Federal Court of Australia Category:Australian King's Counsel Category:Australian barristers Category:Solicitors-general of Australia Category:Companions of the Order of Australia Category:Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Category:People educated at Fort Street High School Category:Attorneys-general of Australia Category:Australian MPs 1974–1975 Category:Australian MPs 1975–1977 Category:Australian MPs 1977–1980 Category:Australian MPs 1980–1983