The judge who fought the law FOR THE RIGHT TO PARADE IN PERTH FOR ST. PATRICK’S DAY BY LLOYD GORMAN By every measure Irish born Walter Dwyer was a man of impeccable character, a model citizen who made an enormous contribution to Western Australia. But there was one notable situation in his life when the proud Irishman and Catholic sided with his heritage and beliefs to openly defy the law. Dwyer was born in August 1875 in Carrick-on-Suir, Tipperary where he lived until he was sixteen, at which age he emigrated to Victoria where he worked as a teacher. Like tens of thousands of other hopefuls he came to Western Australia in about 1895 in the hope of finding his fortune in the gold rush. Instead he studied law and found employment in Kalgoorlie and Boulder before he went onto Perth to complete his studies and practice law first back in Kalgoorlie and Boulder in 1907 and then Perth in 1910. Dwyer was a rising star and cut a dashing figure in court. He was tall, handsome and very good at public speaking and argument with more than a touch of an Irish accent about him. These skills also served him well for politics and in 1911 he won the Perth seat in the Legislative Assembly, the first time the city seat had ever been taken by a Labor candidate. In 1912 alone Dwyer was instrumental in drafting the Industrial Arbitration Act and getting the Money Lenders Act – which gave borrowers protections – and the Landlord and Tenant Act through parliament. He also got married in 1912 to one Maude Mary, the daughter of a WA pastoralist. Despite his achievements Dwyer was not re-elected 8 | THE IRISH SCENE
Left: Walter Dwyer. Above: Crowds of people in Hay Street in 1916 after a military parade
to the seat in the 1914 election, something he came to regard as a blessing in disguise. In January 1915 Dwyer joined forces with John Patrick (JP) Durack – another prominent WA family of Irish origins – to form their own practice Dwyer and Durack. A West Australian newspaper report for March 20, 1914 gives a good insight into how ‘Irishness’ of Perth at the time. The fact that St. Patrick’s Day fell that year on a Tuesday did not dampen the scale or size of celebrations. “Tribute had to be paid to the memory of the patron Saint of Ireland, and workaday trifles were set aside remorselessly for the occasion,” the journalist wrote. “Mangers, artisans and office boys, boasting but the remotest of Irish ancestry, contrived excuses to break into the routine of every-day existence and do their share in the celebrations – flourish the green with the ostentation of a great national pride, and, if possible, fall into line for the procession... So the patron saint was a might influence in the city on Tuesday. His virtue and
