George Winterton
| George Winterton | |
|---|---|
| Born |
15 December 1946 Hong Kong |
| Died | 6 November 2008 (aged 61) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Resting place | Waverley Cemetery, New South Wales, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Education | BA LLB LLM (UWA), JSD (Columbia) |
| Occupation | Academic |
| Years active | 1968–2008 |
| Known for | Australian constitutional lawyer and teacher, architect of the Winterton model for an Australian Republic |
| Title | Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Sydney |
| Predecessor | None |
| Successor | Peter Gerangelos |
George Graham Winterton (15 December 1946 – 6 November 2008) was an Australian academic specialising in Australian constitutional law. Winterton taught for 28 years at the University of New South Wales before taking up an appointment of Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Sydney in 2004.
Winterton served as a member of the Executive Government Advisory Committee of the Constitutional Commission from 1985 to 1987.
Winterton was born in Hong Kong on 15 December 1946. His parents, Rita and Walter, had married in Hong Kong after fleeing Austria shortly after the 1938 Nazi invasion. His father practised medicine in Japanese-occupied Hong Kong and, in May 1947, he and his family sailed to London on the MV Lorenz. Walter having gained an English medical qualification, the Wintertons left Britain in 1948, arriving in Australia in November where Walter became a general practitioner in Western Australia, first at Pingelly, then Mount Hawthorn (North Perth) and then, after the birth of George's only sibling, Peter, at Tuart Hill from 1953. George attended the local primary schools until 1958 when he started at Hale, then in West Perth.
In 1968, George graduated with first class honours in law from the University of Western Australia. He had won four prizes, and was placed first in his final year. Winterton later completed a master's degree by research in 1970, on the topic of the appropriations power under the Australian Constitution.
On graduation, Winterton became an articled clerk with the firm of Robinson Cox (now Clayton Utz) and was admitted to practice in Western Australia in 1970. From 1971 to 1973 he practised with the firm Frank Unmack and Cullen in Fremantle.
Winterton's academic career began in 1968 when he served as a visiting tutor at the University of Western Australia.
The Chief Justice of Australia, Robert French, wrote of the early 1970s "when we were involved with other Perth lawyers in establishing an Aboriginal Legal Service for Western Australia":
Also involved with George were "a future federal minister, Fred Chaney; High Court judge Ron Wilson; the present Chief Justice of the High Court, Robert French; future state premier Peter Dowding; and others...."
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Wikipedia