Garfield Barwick
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The Right Honourable Sir Garfield Barwick AK, GCMG, QC |
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| 7th Chief Justice of Australia | |
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In office 27 April 1964 – 11 February 1981 |
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| Nominated by | Sir Robert Menzies |
| Appointed by | William Philip Sidney, 1st Viscount De L'Isle |
| Preceded by | Sir Owen Dixon |
| Succeeded by | Sir Harry Gibbs |
| Member of the Australian Parliament for Parramatta |
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In office 8 March 1958 – 24 April 1964 |
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| Preceded by | Howard Beale |
| Succeeded by | Nigel Bowen |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
22 June 1903 Sydney, New South Wales
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| Died | 13 July 1997 (aged 94) Sydney, New South Wales |
| Resting place | Northern Suburbs Memorial Gardens |
| Political party | Liberal Party of Australia |
| Religion | Methodist |
Sir Garfield Edward John Barwick, AK GCMG QC (22 June 1903 – 13 July 1997) was the Attorney-General of Australia (1958–64), Minister for External Affairs (1961–64) and the seventh and longest serving Chief Justice of Australia (1964–81). He was an ad hoc judge of the International Court of Justice in 1973–74 in the Nuclear Tests (Australia v. France) and Nuclear Tests (New Zealand v. France) cases, representing Australia and New Zealand jointly.
Barwick was one of three brothers born to Methodist parents, of Cornish origin; he would later be very insistent on his Cornish identity. He was raised in Stanmore, an inner-city suburb of Sydney, and attended Fort Street High School. He graduated from the University of Sydney with a University Medal in law.
A very diligent student, Barwick was admitted to legal practice soon after finishing university, although (on his own later admission) he suffered severely in financial terms during the Great Depression. He was guarantor for a bank loan to his younger brother to operate a service station in Ashfield, but was unable to repay the bank when the loan was forfeited, and was made bankrupt after he sued the oil companies for defamation. This was held against him by many throughout his career.
Nevertheless, he practised as a barrister from 1927 in many jurisdictions, achieving considerable recognition and the reluctant respect of opponents. He first came to public prominence in the 1943 case over the artistic merits of William Dobell's Archibald Prize-winning portrait of the painter Joshua Smith; a losing entrant claimed the picture was caricature, not portraiture. Barwick represented the plaintiff, and although they lost, his name became well known from that point onwards.
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