Vale
D AV I D M A LC OL M
A crusader of justice:
David Malcolm
What is greatness, or better still, what
must a person do to achieve greatness?
Winston Churchill once said, “The price
of greatness is responsibility” and if that is
the case then it could be argued that our
prominent Old Guildfordian, The Hon.
David Malcolm AC QC (Sc 1950-1055),
has paid the heavy price for greatness. David
Malcolm was a seeker of truth, and his legal
responsibilities were at the highest level in
Western Australia as the state’s Chief Justice
from 1988 to 2006.
With David’s tragic death on 20 October
2014 at the age of 76, the community
mourned the loss of a powerhouse in
the legal profession. A man of prodigious
intelligence, he was the recipient of a
Rhodes Scholarship for WA in 1960. David
was a worthy recipient of this honour with
Rhodes Scholars chosen on the basis of
exceptional intellect, character, leadership,
and commitment to service. David was
known by his colleagues to espouse all these
qualities, and he needed to, becoming the
state’s highest judicial officer in a time after
the political scandals of WA Inc., and having
to navigate the complexities of the royal
commission that followed.
David oversaw many legal cases, two of
which could be considered amongst the most
significant in WA. The first was the quashing
of the manslaughter conviction of John
David Malcolm in
1955. He was a proud
Guildford Grammar
School student.
Button, who was wrongfully convicted of
causing the death of his girlfriend, Rosemary
Anderson, about 39 years earlier. Had the
charge not been downgraded from murder
at the time of conviction, John Button could
have received the death penalty. The second
School Prefects in 1955.
Back Row (L-R): John Rendell (Sc 1947-1956), Michael Herzfeld (He 1951-1955), Graham
Miller (SG 1950-1955), Edward Barker (St 1946-1955), Edwin “Arthur” Pexton (Sc 19501955), Darryl Way (SG 1949-1955), Dixie Scott (Sc 1950-1955).
Front Row (L-R): Andrew McGlew (Sc 1949-1955), Darrell Dunkley (He 1950-1955),
David Malcolm (Sc 1950-1955), Peter Thwaites (Headmaster 1950-1956), Anthony Dunleavy
(SG 1945-1955), Geoffrey Paddick (St 1950-1955), Anthony Abbott (St/Sc 1950-1955).
4
was the successful appeal of the Mickelberg
brothers in 2004, originally convicted for
the theft of 49 gold bars in 1982 in what
has become known as the “Perth Mint gold
swindle”.
As Chief Justice, David championed the
breaking down of the barrier between the
public and the court system put in place to
protect it, opening up the system for scrutiny
in the hope it would remove ambiguity and
increase public understanding. Under his
guidance and in response to the growing
number and intricacy of cases before the
court, the panel of judges of the Supreme
Court grew from 10 to 20. He fought long
and hard for improvements to the Supreme
Court buildings and security, and successfully
modernised court operations with the
introduction of many initiatives, such as video
technology allowing court appearances from
remote locations.
David recognised the cultural differences of
Australia’s indigenous community and the
need for court liaison officers to provide
guidance and suppo