Don't honour Silly Billy, says Chief Justice
Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday October 7, 2009
THE Chief Justice of the NSW Supreme Court, James Spigelman, has objected to plans to rename the Sydney federal electorate of Lowe after "that most insipid of characters", Billy McMahon.Justice Spigelman also believes the decision to abolish the seat of Reid to be idiotic, a sentiment shared by descendants of a national founding father and Australia's fourth prime minister, Sir George Reid, who are campaigning to have the decision reversed.The Australian Electoral Commission will in December finalise its report on the redistribution of federal seats in NSW. Its draft report proposed to abolish the safe western suburbs Labor seat of Reid, held by Laurie Ferguson, and rename the adjoining Labor seat of Lowe as McMahon, after the man who once held it.Justice Spigelman criticised Mr McMahon, the Liberal prime minister from 1971 to 1972, in a speech to launch the book A Social History of Company Law, by Rob McQueen.Between 1972 and 1975, Justice Spigelman was a senior adviser and principal private secretary to the Labor prime minister Gough Whitlam, who defeated Mr McMahon in 1972.Justice Spigelman's disdain for the Electoral Commission decision is motivated more by "a certain affection" for Robert Lowe, a pioneer of corporate law and a central figure in McQueen's book.Mr Lowe, an Englishman, was a NSW politician in the 1840s. In 1850 he returned to England and later became Chancellor of the Exchequer.Justice Spigelman said Mr Lowe's achievements were extraordinary and the proposal by the Electoral Commission to supplant his name with that of McMahon was unfortunate."One does not have to know much about political history to realise that to prefer the name of this most insipid of characters over that of a fascinating individual such as Robert Lowe is a step backwards," he said."Billy McMahon may have been the prime minister but this idea is silly, to deploy the adjective so often attacked to his first name."To make matters worse, the redistribution would lead to the eradication of the Reid name. Justice Spigelman said Sir George was a figure "much more substantial than McMahon will ever be regarded"."These misjudgments reflect an inadequate understanding of our history, which those who recognise that our heritage matters must combat," he said.The Reid decision was on a par with that taken in 1969 to abolish Parkes, named after federation's founding father, Sir Henry Parkes."Eventually someone recognised just how idiotic this was and the seat was recreated in NSW in 1984," the Chief Justice said. "I have no doubt the same will happen to Reid. Unfortunately, I doubt if the seat of Lowe will experience the same resurrection."I am, however, sure that the seat of McMahon will have a short shelf life."
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald
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