Australian Constitution

Hi, I am Sir Isaac Isaacs and I am delighted to be here today, on “Australian Story”. You may have heard of me because of my unique name or because I was the very first Australian-born governor general. I was also a politician and a judge. Before I became a governor general, I studied for a Bachelor’s degree in Law at the University of Melbourne and graduated in 1880. 2 years later I was called up to the Victorian Bar and that was when my career began to hit off. I also decided to continue my studies to become a Master of Law in 1883. In 1893 I was named Solicitor-General of Victoria and the year after that I became the Attorney-General.

Until 1901 I was in that position throughout the rise and falls of the different departments.

In 1897 I was elected to appear as a Victorian representative to go to Australia’s second constitutional convention from which the Australian Constitution was drafted.

In 1899 I was made a Queen’s Counsel aka, the “Silks”. I was an active legislative member and in 1901 was elected to the first federal parliament. I became Premier afterwards but aimed to be part of the House of Representatives. I supported the High Court in all of the States and the White- Australia Policy.

After two years of only acting as Chief Justice, finally I was given the position by James Scullin the leader of the Labor party. As mentioned before, I was the first governor-general to be born in Australia. A large amount of people were against this including the king because they believed it did not follow the tradition of British Governor-generals. But eventually in 1931 the king agreed to the act. However, this great event for me occurred during the time of the Great Depression. It was a very solemn and painful time to endure yet I served my country through the power I had with dignity and compassion.

I voluntarily gave up one quarter of my salary and my own houses in Sydney and Melbourne