PART FOUR – All Our Own
224
Chapter Thirteen – the calm and then the storm
The calm and then the storm ‘Fernberg was comfortable ... for a while it was marvellous being waited on, but it was like living in a goldfish bowl, there was a lot you couldn’t do’.1 For thirty five years there had been constitutional calm in Queensland, from the abolition of the Legislative Council in 1922 through to 1957. Then, new storms broke and a succession of governors found they had to deal with situations that reminded everyone there were still very real constitutional responsibilities and discretions attached to the vice-regal office. There were reminders that sometimes it was the task of the governor to act as an umpire to resolve political difficulty or deadlock. In those circumstances, the challenge for the governor was to arrive at a course of action that was constitutionally correct and would therefore be accepted by the community. It was a weighty responsibility. A bad decision could put the whole system under intolerable stress. Inevitably, decisions had to be made in an environment where there was always pressure and tension and where there might also be considerable controversy. There had to be the strictest impartiality and any semblance of departure from that carried a heavy penalty, as Sir Colin Hannah was to learn. There had to be a preparedness to act quickly, decisively and correctly. Government House could be a lonely place when those hard decisions had to be made. The governors might consult the textbooks and they could seek advice but, in the end, the decision was theirs alone. Queensland’s Chief Justice Alan Mansfield could see that his new role would be no sinecure when he became Administrator to act in place of Sir John Lavarack from January 1957. The Labor government led by premier Vince Gair had been very comfortably re-elected in May 1956. However, almost a quarter of a century of unbroken ALP rule had allowed the seeds of destruction to germinate and flourish within the party itself. By early 1957, it was apparent that there were ructions within the Queensland government that could easily bring it crashing down. The party was led in the parliament by premier Vince Gair, but there were powerful elements within the party which insisted that Labor’s parliamentary wing, and thus the government, was obliged to implement the policy and strategy directions of the Queensland Central Executive (QCE). The QCE was, in effect, a management committee within the ALP. Its membership comprised trade union and general rank and file party representatives, people who were not responsible to the wider electorate. Nevertheless, the QCE was to assert in 1957 that it was the ALP’s ruling body in Queensland. In effect, it claimed to govern the state through its puppet, the parliamentary party. In early 1957, Premier Gair defied the QCE when he refused to introduce three weeks annual leave, which was long standing party policy. Gair announced that the government would not gamble with the welfare of Queensland by granting benefits which the state could not afford. In February and March 1957, the QCE again called on the government to implement the policy Left: Sir Alan Mansfield hadn’t travelled an easy road to Government House.
225
PART FOUR – All Our Own
and reminded parliamentarians they could be disciplined if they refused to do so. Gair and all but one of his Cabinet rejected the QCE demands. On 24 April 1957, the QCE voted to expel Gair from the party. Gair immediately announced that he would not resign as premier and would carry on governing Queensland as long as he had a majority in parliament. However, Gair’s command of a majority could not be tested immediately because parliament was in recess. The Labor party split in two, with parliamentarians loyal to Gair forming the Queensland Labor Party (QLP). It was the largest single bloc in the Legislative Assembly, closely followed by the rump of the ALP, then the official Opposition comprised the coalition of the Country and Liberal parties. Obviously, Mansfield as Administrator would soon have to decide who should govern Queensland. Who could command a majority on the floor of the Assembly, and how was that to be tested? Alan Mansfield’s son Jim was then a twenty year old law student. He was living at Government House with his parents. In 2009, Jim recalled ‘Everyone could see that the Gair government was disintegrating. My father knew that he would have to handle the problems that were bound to arise. I am sure that he already had a good grasp of all the law and the conventions, but he thought he should brush up. He asked the Supreme Court Library to lend him Dicey’s book, which was the leading constitutional law authority. The librarian said “I am sorry, we only have one copy and it is out on loan to Vince Gair.” So Dad waited his turn for the book.’2 On 9 April, Gair had asked Mansfield to convene parliament and the Assembly was summoned to meet on 11 June. When the Assembly met, Gair’s government was defeated, 45 to 25, on the crucial vote to renew supply. On 13 June, Gair advised Mansfield that he could not carry on. Gair asked that an election be called. Mansfield now had a discretion whether to call an election or invite some other political leader to form a government. Quite properly, he decided that every political alternative should be explored. Mansfield separately summoned Frank Nicklin as official Opposition leader and John Duggan, leader of the ALP, to see him. Nicklin and Duggan each told Mansfield that they could not form a government and that an election should be held. Mansfield then dissolved parliament on 13 June and called an election for 3 August.3 The election brought the coalition into office with a comfortable majority. In hindsight, the result seems unsurprising, but there was a great deal of surprise, even astonishment, at the time. Most Queensland voters had only ever known Labor governments and they had never contemplated that there might ever be a change. Finally, change came, not because of any rise in the strength of the opposition but because of dissension and decay within the government. The events of 1957 that preceded the change, particularly disunity within the governing party, were to be replicated in coming years. Future governors, Ramsay and Campbell in particular, were to find as Mansfield had done that their job was about much more than ceremony and garden parties. In January 1958, Mansfield was knighted in the first Queensland honours list to be issued for 32 years as a consequence of the Labor government’s hostility to the award of imperial honours.4 The knighthood came in recognition of
226
Chapter Thirteen – the calm and then the storm
Top left: Sir Alan Mansfield governed through an era of development – there were many bridges to open. Middle left: Rachel Mansfield (left), Lady Mansfield and Sir Alan at Government House. Bottom left: Sir Alan and Lady Mansfield. Above: Sir Alan inspects soldiers. Above right: Lady Mansfield with daughter Rachel and her pony at Government House.
his services to the law, to the University of Queensland and as the state’s Administrator. Sir Alan continued to act as Administrator until March 1958, when Sir Henry Abel Smith arrived. He again acted as Administrator for several quite lengthy periods during Sir Henry’s absences from Queensland. Then, in January 1966, Mansfield was appointed governor in his own right, to take up the office in March 1966 following Abel Smith’s departure. Sir Alan hadn’t travelled an easy road to Government House. He was born in Brisbane in 1902, the third son of English migrant Edward Mansfield and his locally born wife, Margaret neé Bird. Although Edward Mansfield was a district court judge, that was not a well paid office in those days. He died in May 1905, and young Alan later had to rely on scholarships to gain a private school and university education in Sydney. He graduated in law in 1924 and was admitted to the Queensland Bar on 22 July 1924. For years he lived perilously close to the breadline. His son Jim recalled, ‘My father was scarred by his early experiences, I think that everyone of his era had to live with dreadful anxiety and insecurity. He told me that in his first years at the Bar he often didn’t know when his next brief might arrive and he regularly had to pawn his watch while he waited for a cheque. ‘He used to have lunch at the Souris brothers Greek cafe in George Street. Years later, that connection was renewed when he was a frequent racegoer and recreational punter. The Souris brothers were then very prominent owners and they tipped him a lot of winners. That was typical of his incredible range of friends from all walks of life. ‘He told me he seriously considered giving the Bar away before he got a brief to appear in the Mungana case, which involved allegations of official corruption against the prominent politicians Ted Theodore and William McCormack. Dad represented two of the other parties and won a good result in what was a sensational and much publicised case. After that, more and better briefs came his way. In 1940 he was appointed a Supreme Court judge. Then, from 1946, he was in Japan for two years while he worked as the Chief Prosecutor before the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Far East.’
227
PART FOUR – All Our Own
Throughout his legal career, Mansfield earned the reputation of being diligent and incisive, quick to get to the point at issue. He was not flamboyant but he was even tempered, painstaking and reliable, versatile and unfailingly courteous. He was a good choice as Chief Justice to preside over a court that included several more mercurial and reputedly difficult personalities. In 1933, Mansfield married Beryl Pain, who was a member of the Barnes pastoral family of north Queensland. Beryl had one child from a previous marriage that had ended in divorce, while the Mansfields were to have two children of their own, James (Jim) and Rachel.5 Jim recalled the life at Government House. ‘I lived there for much of 1957, while I was at university, supposedly studying. We had many distinguished visitors come to stay at Government House while I was there, including Sir William and Lady Slim and Lord Morton, who was a real live Law Lord. The Queen Mother came, she oozed charm and after two minutes anywhere near her even the most rabid republican became a raging royalist.’ Sir Alan had a flying start as governor. He was well and favourably known and he knew the state well because of his work as a circuit court judge. He had taken a special interest in pastoral and agricultural matters as a chairman of the Land Appeal Court and the Sugar Cane Prices Board. The Mansfields travelled extensively through a state that was then enjoying growth and prosperity. There had been a severe drought for several years from 1965 and a collapse in wool prices. However, by then there was far less dependence on wool. The population was surging, from 1.518 million in 1961, to 1.663 million in 1966, then to 1.851 million in 1971 and then over two million in 1974. A greater proportion of that population was being attracted to settle in the cities and in coastal areas, where there were increasing numbers of jobs in secondary and tertiary industries. Queensland also began to attract migrants from interstate, people who sought sunshine, a better lifestyle and
228
Top left: A tour by Springbok footballers provoked anti-apartheid demonstrations and a vigorous police response. Top, centre: Police outnumber protestors during a ‘right to march’ demonstration in Brisbane, 1977. Top right: Sir Colin and Lady Hannah in their Canberra home, before their move to Queensland’s Government House. Right: The Hannahs depart Government House for a function.
Chapter Thirteen – the calm and then the storm
the exemption from death duties that the Queensland government promised to introduce from 1976. Sir Alan’s original term expired in March 1971, but a two year extension was offered and accepted. In January 1972, Sir Alan announced his intention to retire slightly earlier than the end of the extended term. A troublesome leg ailment had made it increasingly difficult for him to carry out official duties and this encouraged him to bring the date forward. In March 1972, the Mansfields retired to their home on the Gold Coast. From there, Sir Alan enjoyed yachting, fishing and the company of his wide circle of friends. He continued to act as Chancellor of the University of Queensland as he had done since 1966. However, in 1976, ill-health forced his resignation from that role. He had been far more than a figurehead at the University, chairing many committees and always keeping very well informed about university affairs. Sir Alan died on 17 July 1980. A few weeks later, Lady Mansfield also died. They were survived by their children, Jim and Rachel. During Sir Alan’s term as governor, a long serving but relatively unknown Country Party member of the Legislative Assembly became premier. On 8 August 1968, Johannes Bjelke-Petersen ascended to the job more or less by accident. Frank Nicklin had retired in January 1968 and was succeeded by Jack Pizzey. However, Pizzey died suddenly in July 1968. The coalition was ill-prepared to find another leader quite so soon and it seemed that Bjelke-Petersen was selected as a caretaker to create a breathing space while longer term arrangements were sorted out. The idiosyncratic Bjelke-Petersen stayed in the premier’s job through 19 of the most tempestuous and controversial years in Queensland’s history. After a hesitant start and narrowly surviving a 1970 attempt to oust him, Bjelke-Petersen learned to consolidate his grip on power by confronting and demolishing everything and everybody that stood in his way. It was a turbulent era, a time of industrial disputes and protests about such issues as nature conservation, heritage protection in the cities, involvement in the Vietnam war, Aboriginal affairs and visits by South African footballers. Every demonstration, every breach of law and order and every deviation from accepted norms was grasped as an opportunity to increase police powers and diminish personal freedoms. It was all part of the Bjelke-Petersen strategy to prove that Queensland was being managed by decisive, no-nonsense leaders. Bjelke-Petersen seized with special relish any opportunity to confront or frustrate the Whitlam led Labor government that had been elected to power in Canberra in December 1972. One of these opportunities centrally involved Queensland’s new governor, Sir Colin Hannah. Hannah’s appointment to succeed Sir Alan Mansfield was announced on 14 January 1971, on the same day that Sir Alan made public his retirement plans.6 Air Marshal Sir Colin Hannah was then Chief of the Air Staff and thus Australia’s most senior Air Force officer. Born in Western Australia in 1914, he had joined the Royal Australian Air Force in 1935. In 1939 he married Patricia Gordon, and was then sent to Britain for armaments training. He saw active service in New Guinea from October 1943. After the war, he had a series of progressively more senior postings, including command of Amberley air base in southern
229
PART FOUR – All Our Own
Queensland in 1949. He was appointed an aide-de-camp to Queen Elizabeth for the 1954 royal tour, then he saw more active service during the Malayan Emergency. From 1960, he was appointed to increasingly senior air force staff positions in Australia until he was promoted to the rank of air marshal and appointed Chief of the Air Staff for three years from 1 January 1970. He was knighted in 1971. On 15 January 1972, it was announced simultaneously in London and in Brisbane that Sir Colin would be Queensland’s new governor. He was to be the state’s nineteenth governor, the third Australian to hold the office. The Courier-Mail thought he was ‘a splendid choice ... a young-thinking man of action, and an experienced administrator with a no-nonsense reputation in Australia and overseas. His record is a fine one, demonstrating the flexibility of mind and ability to mix with people which are such necessary qualities for a modern governor. He is a man’s man, at home in any company.’7 There was a subdued welcome for the Hannahs when they arrived in Brisbane on 21 March 1972. The Courier-Mail reported that ‘there was little evidence that people had turned out to see him. A few shoppers paused to watch the red, open car bring the Hannahs to Parliament House. Some clapped as the car drove by. Despite the Premier’s appeal for a gay Brisbane, there were few flags flying.’8 Governors now had to compete with pop stars and sporting heroes for celebrity status. The modern governors had to earn adulation: it no longer came to them automatically with their appointments. Everything Sir Colin did as governor was overshadowed by the consequences of remarks he made at a Brisbane Chamber of Commerce luncheon on 15 October 1975. At the time, the Whitlam government in Canberra was struggling for survival. There had been a series of economic crises, there was much evidence of government bungling and revelations were emerging concerning attempts to raise huge loans without parliamentary approval so as to be able to carry on government even if supply was denied. The parliamentary opposition was using its majority in the Senate to defer the granting of supply until Whitlam agreed to call an election. The government appeared to be paralysed. At the very least, a constitutional crisis was looming. At the Chamber of Commerce luncheon, the Chamber’s president, Charles Mortensen, said ‘The sooner Mr Fraser presses the button and starts the count down for an election, ignoring the bleats of academic lawyers, the sooner business confidence will be restored. I am of the opinion that there could never be any long term trust by business in the present Labor government, irrespective of what economic measures were taken to get the private sector back into gear.’ Sir Colin, the Chamber’s luncheon guest, then rose to say ‘Although my office is above party politics, I deplore the fumbling ineptitude which has put the country in its present position. When I compare our overall history with the last two years I am forced to say I would be guilty of denying my heritage and failing in my regard for the people of Queensland and I would be sheltering behind convention if I did not say I agreed wholeheartedly with the earlier speech by Mr Mortensen.’ 9 They were probably the most overtly politically partisan public remarks any Queensland governor had ever made. However, it might have been possible in other circumstances for the indiscreet words to be quietly forgotten. That
230
Chapter Thirteen – the calm and then the storm
was certainly never going to be allowed to happen in October 1975. It was Hannah’s misfortune that his words were eagerly seized and exploited by both sides as potent new weapons in the war between Bjelke-Petersen and Whitlam, between Canberra and Queensland. The loser in the war was Sir Colin Hannah. Sir Colin’s remarks were immediately publicised and caused a furore throughout Australia. There was widespread condemnation of the governor, not only in Labor circles but well beyond, among those who felt that Hannah had wrongly trespassed on the political arena. The Courier-Mail newspaper, a stern critic of the Whitlam government, called the governor’s speech ‘a misuse of his office.’10 The events that followed are outlined by the constitutional scholar Anne Twomey in her 2006 work, The Chameleon Crown. In summary, on 16 October 1975 Queensland’s Leader of the Opposition, Tom Burns, sent a petition to the Queen calling on her to remove Sir Colin as governor. Burns said there was concern that the governor’s personal political feelings might influence his actions when dealing with sensitive matters. Burns’ petition was referred by the Queen to the Foreign Secretary, whose departmental officers thought there were three possible courses of action. The governor could be removed, he could be reprimanded, or the Queen could simply do nothing. It was thought that some decisive action was necessary to uphold the principle of vice-regal impartiality and the British officials obviously felt that dismissal of Sir Colin was the appropriate step. However, that course carried the risk of bringing the Queen into direct conflict with the Queensland premier, who was unlikely to accept any dismissal and would very likely use it as further ammunition for his war against Canberra.
Top: Drought in western Queensland, 1967. Centre: Flooding at St Lucia, Brisbane, January 1974. Bottom: The flooded Bremer River at Ipswich, January 1974. Right: Flooding in the Charlotte, Albert and Mary streets area of Brisbane city, January 1974.
231
PART FOUR – All Our Own
At the same time, the Whitlam government had advised the Queen to remove Sir Colin from the list of state governors who held dormant commissions to act as Administrator of the Commonwealth in the absence of the Governor-General. On 24 October 1975, the Queen did revoke Sir Colin’s dormant commission. That provoked the Queensland premier to embark on a strenuous defence of Sir Colin, by means of a ministerial statement to the Queensland parliament on 28 October 1975. In his statement, Bjelke-Petersen said that, while recommendations about the dormant commissions held to act as Commonwealth Administrator were matters for the Commonwealth government, ‘appointments to the position of Governor of Queensland are made by Her Majesty on the recommendation of the Government of Queensland.’ On that point, the premier was wrong, as Twomey makes very clear. Appointments to the position of Governor of Queensland were still made by the Queen on the advice of her United Kingdom government, not the Queensland government. If Queensland had any role in the making of appointments it was purely informal and the state certainly had no right of direct access to the Queen on the matter. The premier went on to escalate the tension by saying ‘I indicate now that such is my government’s confidence in Sir Colin that we intend initiating the relevant action to have the question of an extension of his term submitted to the Queen for Her Majesty’s approval.’ The premier’s office was soon advised by London that no extension of Sir Colin’s term would be acceptable. Notwithstanding that advice, on 10 November 1975 the premier wrote to Sir Colin saying that the government was inviting him, Sir Colin, to accept another term of office. Sir Colin said he would be honoured to accept an extension of three years, subject to the Queen’s approval. This provoked further disapproval in London. Sir Colin was asked to explain his conduct. The governor was unrepentant when, on 19 November, he wrote to the Foreign Secretary. Hannah admitted that, while he had made the remarks complained of, they were justified on several grounds. The relevant British officials regarded Sir Colin’s response as being defiant and unapologetic. London was clearly tempted to take a hard line, but on 11 November 1975 the Australian Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, had dismissed the Whitlam government. That action led to bitter argument and divisions in the Australian community. Many commentators contended that Kerr had acted unconstitutionally. London felt it could hardly discipline Hannah while much more serious allegations of constitutional impropriety were being made against the Governor-General. In the end, Sir Colin was rebuked and the request to extend his term for three years was rejected. On 16 January 1975, the Foreign Secretary wrote to Hannah ‘your remarks of 15 October were not in keeping with the convention of regal and vice-regal impartiality which her Majesty and Her representatives traditionally observe. In these circumstances, I have not submitted to Her Majesty the Queen the request ... that the term of your office be extended for a further period of three years from March 1977.’ Undeterred by this, the premier on several occasions in 1976 again raised with London the matter of an extension of Sir Colin’s term. On each occasion there was a flat refusal by London to countenance the proposed extension. London similarly rejected requests from the Commonwealth government that Sir Colin’s dormant commission to act in place of the Governor-General should be restored.
232
Top: Early apartment blocks at Burleigh Heads. Below left: Sir Colin Hannah speaking his mind. Below, centre: The Hannahs were a diligent and popular couple, but they were overtaken by controversy. Below, right: Sir Colin Hannah had been Australia’s highest ranking air force officer.
Chapter Thirteen – the calm and then the storm
Finally, the issue was resolved when the premier advised London that Sir Colin would definitely retire in March 1977 and that Queensland would suggest the name of a new governor.11 The central point in contention during the whole affair was whether the Queen should take advice directly from Queensland, and whether British officials were bound to rubber-stamp Queensland’s advice about the appointment of the state’s governors. Bjelke-Petersen seemed to believe that he, as premier of Queensland, furnished the only advice to the Queen on the matter. He was mistaken. It was the responsibility of British ministers, not the Queensland premier, to advise the Crown on the appointment of state governors. Queensland could make informal submissions to the British authorities, but the responsibility of formulating the advice that went forward to the monarch rested entirely and exclusively with the British government. The Foreign Office noted this and stated ‘Ministers here take very seriously the duty to protect the Crown from embarrassment; and that they do not just rubber-stamp whatever proposals State governments, for their own selfish reasons, may choose to put forward, but exercise independent judgment in performing their constitutional duty to advise the Crown.’12 Sir Colin’s indiscretion and its consequences created a background for significant constitutional changes that were to be made in Queensland in 1977 and later by the passage of the 1986 Australia Acts. In the meantime, Sir Colin retired in March 1977 and went to live on the Gold Coast, where he died in 1980.
233