Great Scot December 2017 GreatScot_152_Dec_Online | Page 89

Vale – Sir Ninian
Martin Stephen
KG AK GCMG GCVO
KBE KSTJ (’40)
The Right Honourable Sir Ninian Martin
Stephen was born at Nuffield, England, on
15 June 1923. The last of several schools he
attended was Scotch, which he entered on 13
February 1940 and attended until the end of
that year. At Scotch he rowed in three-seat in
the winning 3rd VIII, and was involved in skiing.
In the 1940 Leaving Certificate examination,
Ninian won Honours in English and French, and
passed Latin, German, European History, and
Economics.
Although Ninian began studying law at
Melbourne University and had an articled
clerkship with Scotch firm Arthur Robinson, he
enlisted in the AIF (1942-46), serving in New
Guinea, New Britain and Borneo, receiving a
commission as a lieutenant in 1945.
Admitted to practice in 1949, he married
Valery Mary Sinclair that year on 4 June. He
graduated LLB (1950) and practised as a solicitor
until joining the Bar in 1952. There, Ninian quickly
became one of Australia’s leading constitutional
and commercial barristers, also focusing on
company law, equity and taxation. In addition
to appearing in Victorian courts, Ninian also
appeared before the High Court and the Privy
Council.
Appointed a QC in 1966, Ninian became
a member of the Victorian Bar Council, was
president of the Medico-Legal Society of
Victoria, and was a member of Monash
University’s Faculty Board. From 30 June 1970
to 29 February 1972 Ninian was a judge of the
Supreme Court of Victoria, resigning to become
Scotch’s third justice of the High Court of
Australia. He was knighted (KBE) in 1972.
He served on the High Court from 1 March
1972 until resigning as senior puisne judge
on 11 May 1982. He had been sworn on the
Privy Council in 1979, and was a member of
the judicial committee. In 1982 Sir Ninian was
appointed KStJ, GCVO, GCMG and AK. On
the advice of an Old Melburnian, Prime Minister
Malcolm Fraser, Sir Ninian became Scotch’s
second and Australia’s 20th Governor-General
(1982-89). He worked well with both sides of
politics, and Bob Hawke extended his term. Sir
Ninian was the only governor-general to approve
two double dissolutions of parliament.
His term as Governor-General ended on 16
February 1989, and he became the inaugural
Australian Ambassador for the Environment
(1989-92), during which he worked on banning
mining in Antarctica. In 1992 he took on the
challenging task of chairing the second strand
of Northern Ireland talks between the British and
Irish governments.
France awarded him the Legion d’Honneur
in 1993, and several honorary degrees were
conferred on Sir Ninian. His KG (1994) from
Queen Elizabeth was – for many years – the last
knighthood awarded to an Australian resident.
He gave advice on the South African
constitution, and from 1993 to 1997 Sir Ninian
was a judge on the International Tribunals
investigating war crimes in Yugoslavia and
Rwanda. He was a member of the Citizenship
Council (1998-2000) and chaired the review
of the Australian Blood Banking and Plasma
Products (1999-2000).
Among many other involvements, Sir Ninian
was a member of the IOC Ethics Committee,
and chairman of the Gene Technology Ethics
and Consultative Committee from 2002. In
2013 he was chosen to be one of Scotch’s 100
Men of Influence, Men of Weight, for the OSCA
centenary. He had been guest of honour at the
1983 OSCA Annual Dinner. Sir Ninian died at
Melbourne on 29 October 2017, widely lauded as
a great Australian.
www.scotch.vic.edu.au Great Scot
89