H.V. Evatt
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Dr. Herbert Vere Evatt (April 30, 1894 - November 2, 1965), Australian jurist, politician and writer (generally known in his lifetime as Dr H.V. Evatt and popularly known as "Doc") was born in Maitland, New South Wales, to a working-class family of Anglo-Irish origin. He was never called Herbert: his family called him Bert, everyone else called him Doc. After attending Fort Street High School in Sydney, Evatt won scholarships to the University of Sydney, where he graduated in law in 1919. He was unable to serve in the First World War, in which his brother was killed, due to poor eyesight. He became a prominent industrial lawyer in Sydney, working mainly for trade union clients. In 1924 he was awarded the degree Doctor of Law.
In 1925 Evatt was elected as an Australian Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. He served there until 1930, when the Scullin Labor government appointed him as the youngest-ever justice of the High Court of Australia. Regarded as a brilliant and innovative judge, he delivered a number of minority judgements, several of which were decades later adopted by High Court majorities. In several matters, Robert Menzies, the Attorney-General in the Lyons conservative government appeared before the court where he and Evatt had several colourful exchanges on questions of law. This was the beginning of a life-long mutual dislike.
In 1940 Evatt resigned from the High Court to return to politics, and was elected federal MP for the Sydney seat of Barton. When Labor came to power under John Curtin in 1941, Evatt became Attorney-General and Minister for External Affairs (that is, Foreign Minister). He joined the diplomatic councils of the allies during the Second World War, and in 1945 he played a leading role in the founding of the United Nations. He was President of the United Nations General Assembly in 1948-1949 and was prominent in the negotiations which led to the creation of Israel. He became deputy leader of the Labor Party after the 1946 elections.
In 1949 Labor was defeated by Menzies's new Liberal Party and Evatt went into opposition. When Ben Chifley died in 1951 Evatt was elected Labor leader without opposition. At first his leadership went well, and he campaigned successfully against Menzies's attempt to amend the Constitution to ban the Communist Party. Many moderates in the Labor Party believed this was both bad politics and bad policy because of the active Communist opposition to Labor within trade unions and because of the threat to national security posed by Communists.
Evatt believed he was certain to win the 1954 federal elections, and when he unexpectedly failed to do so (despite polling a slight majority of the vote) he blamed the Catholic dominated Industrial Groups in the party for sabotaging his campaign. He was also convinced that Menzies had conspired with the security services to bring about the defection of a Soviet diplomat (see Petrov Affair) as a means of discrediting him.
After the elections Evatt launched a public attack on his enemies in the Labor Party. This precipitated a disastrous split in the party, with many members being expelled and some resigning in protest, culminating in the formation of the Democratic Labor Party, a breakaway group which directed its preferences against Labor at subsequent elections. This, together with an obsessive hatred of Menzies which led him into many tactical errors, cost Evatt the 1955 and 1958 federal elections, at both of which Labor was heavily defeated. During the 1958 election campaign Evatt made a dramatic offer to resign as leader if the DLP would return to the party, but the offer was rejected.
In 1960 the Labor government in New South Wales appointed Evatt Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, an appointment which was widely seen as a means of giving him a dignified exit from politics. But in 1962 he suffered a nervous breakdown and retired from the bench. He died in Canberra in November 1965. It is sometimes asserted that Evatt had various forms of undiagnosed mental illness, which led to erratic behaviour. Both recent biographies of Evatt reject this, although they agree he became increasingly eccentric towards the end of his career.
During his life he had a varied career as a writer covering such topics as law and labour history. His book on the politics of the Rum Rebellion is still considered worth reading.
The Evatt Foundation, a research institute affiliated with the Labor Party, is named in his honour.
The city of Evatt, a suburb in the Belconnen district of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, is also named in his honour.
Further reading
- Ken Buckley et al, Doc Evatt, Cheshire 1994 (a sympathetic biography)
- Peter Crockett, Evatt: A Life, Oxford University Press 1993 (a hostile biography)
- H.V. Evatt, Australian Labour Leader: The Story Of W.A. Holman and the Labour Movement, 1954
- H.V. Evatt, The King and His Dominion Governors, 1936
- H.V. Evatt, The Royal Prerogative, 1930 (this was his LLD thesis)
- H.V. Evatt, Rum Rebellion: A Study of the Overthrow of Governor Bligh by John Macarthur and the New South Wales Corps, 1943
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