Charles Powers
Encyclopedia
Sir Charles Powers KCMG
(8 March 1853 – 25 April 1939), Australia
n politician
and judge
, was a Justice of the High Court of Australia
from 1913 to 1929.
Powers was born in 1853 in Brisbane
, Queensland
. He was educated at Brisbane Grammar School
captaining the Schools First XI. He was a talented sportsman, and at one point captained a state cricket
team against a touring English
side. After completing his articles of clerkship
, Powers was admitted to practise law as a solicitor
in 1876, after which he moved to Bundaberg
to practise. In 1878, he married Kate Ann Thorburn, whose father was a solicitor from Victoria. Powers continued to work in Bundaberg until 1882, and in 1883 became the mayor
of Maryborough
.
In June 1888, Powers was elected to the Parliament of Queensland
as a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
. In November 1889, Powers became Postmaster-General and Minister for Education in the ministry of Premier Boyd Dunlop Morehead, and he held these positions until August 1890. In 1891 he was a member of a Royal Commission
which was established to investigate the possibility of establishing a university in Queensland.
Powers was admitted to practice as a barrister
at the Queensland bar in 1894, although since he was still in parliament at the time, he did not actually practice. From 1894 to 1895, Powers was the leader of the opposition in Queensland. During this time, he put forward an electoral reform bill
which provided for women's suffrage
, and the abolition of plural voting
, however the bill did not succeed. If it had, Queensland would have become the second Australian colony
after South Australia
to allow women to vote. An industrial relations bill brought by Powers also failed.
From 1899 to 1903, Powers served as the Crown Solicitor for Queensland, and in 1903, he was appointed as the first Commonwealth Crown Solicitor
. During this time, he conducted several appeals on behalf of the recently formed Federal Government
to the Privy Council
, where he argued many significant constitutional issues. He played a key role in preparing the prosecution in the Coal Vend cases, arising out of prosecutions brought by then Attorney-General of Australia
Billy Hughes
against a coal industry cartel
. The case was successful at first instance, but was lost on appeals to the full High Court and to the Privy Council
.
Nevertheless, Hughes was pleased with Powers' work, and Hughes opinion was undoubtedly influential when the Fisher government
appointed Powers to the High Court of Australia in 1913. Powers was the only solicitor to be appointed, and remains the only Justice (with the exception of the initial three) to have not argued a case before the court. He was also the first Justice appointed without a university degree. Powers was one of two justices of the Court to have previously served in the Parliament of Queensland
, along with Samuel Griffith
.
The appointment of Powers, along with the concurrent appointment of Albert Piddington
, were highly controversial. The press considered the two appointees to be insufficiently qualified, and both were criticised for their lack of expertise and experience. There was also controversy arising from Hughes' desire to appoint judges who would be sympathetic to interpreting the power of the Parliament of Australia
broadly. Piddington caused the most public outrage for stating his sympathies in a telegram, although Powers had actually prepared many of the arguments Hughes would wish him to uphold on the bench.
While Piddington ultimately resigned, Powers persevered, and remained on the High Court. Later in 1913 he was made Deputy President of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration
under Justice Higgins, leaving the court on 30 April 1920. He was reappointed as Deputy President on 12 February 1921 and ultimately succeeded Higgins as President on 30 June. As President, Powers introduced the first system of automatic adjustments to the basic wage to account for changes in the cost of living, applied quarterly. He finally left the Arbitration Court on 25 June 1926.
Powers was created a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
(KCMG) in 1929, and on 22 July that year resigned from the High Court. Powers died in Melbourne
in 1939.
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
(8 March 1853 – 25 April 1939), Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
, was a Justice of the High Court of Australia
High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
from 1913 to 1929.
Powers was born in 1853 in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
. He was educated at Brisbane Grammar School
Brisbane Grammar School
Brisbane Grammar School is an independent, non-denominational, day and boarding school for boys, located in Spring Hill, an inner suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia...
captaining the Schools First XI. He was a talented sportsman, and at one point captained a state cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
team against a touring English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
side. After completing his articles of clerkship
Articled clerk
An articled clerk, also known as an articling student, is an apprentice in a professional firm in Commonwealth countries. Generally the term arises in the accountancy profession and in the legal profession. The articled clerk signs a contract, known as "articles of clerkship", committing to a...
, Powers was admitted to practise law as a solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
in 1876, after which he moved to Bundaberg
Bundaberg, Queensland
Bundaberg is a city in Queensland, Australia. It is part of the Local Government Area of the Bundaberg Region and is a major centre within Queensland's broader Wide Bay-Burnett geographical region...
to practise. In 1878, he married Kate Ann Thorburn, whose father was a solicitor from Victoria. Powers continued to work in Bundaberg until 1882, and in 1883 became the mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Maryborough
Maryborough, Queensland
Maryborough is a city located on the Mary River in South East Queensland, Australia, approximately north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city is serviced by the Bruce Highway, and has a population of approximately 22,000 . It is closely tied to its neighbour city Hervey Bay which is...
.
In June 1888, Powers was elected to the Parliament of Queensland
Parliament of Queensland
The Parliament of Queensland is the legislature of Queensland, Australia. According to the state's constitution, the Parliament consists of the Queen and the Legislative Assembly. It is the only unicameral state parliament in the country, the upper chamber, the Legislative Council, having been...
as a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
Queensland Legislative Assembly
The Queensland Legislative Assembly is the unicameral chamber of the Parliament of Queensland. Elections are held approximately once every three years. Voting is by the Optional Preferential Voting form of the Alternative Vote system...
. In November 1889, Powers became Postmaster-General and Minister for Education in the ministry of Premier Boyd Dunlop Morehead, and he held these positions until August 1890. In 1891 he was a member of a Royal Commission
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
which was established to investigate the possibility of establishing a university in Queensland.
Powers was admitted to practice as a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
at the Queensland bar in 1894, although since he was still in parliament at the time, he did not actually practice. From 1894 to 1895, Powers was the leader of the opposition in Queensland. During this time, he put forward an electoral reform bill
Bill (proposed law)
A bill is a proposed law under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an act or a statute....
which provided for women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
, and the abolition of plural voting
Plural voting
Plural voting is the practice whereby one person might be able to vote multiple times in an election. It is not to be confused with a plurality voting system which does not necessarily involve plural voting...
, however the bill did not succeed. If it had, Queensland would have become the second Australian colony
States and territories of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a union of six states and various territories. The Australian mainland is made up of five states and three territories, with the sixth state of Tasmania being made up of islands. In addition there are six island territories, known as external territories, and a...
after South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
to allow women to vote. An industrial relations bill brought by Powers also failed.
From 1899 to 1903, Powers served as the Crown Solicitor for Queensland, and in 1903, he was appointed as the first Commonwealth Crown Solicitor
Australian Government Solicitor
Australian Government Solicitor, previously known as Commonwealth Deputy Crown Solicitor, is a law firm that provides legal services to the Government of Australia, and occasionally to governments of the states and territories of Australia...
. During this time, he conducted several appeals on behalf of the recently formed Federal Government
Government of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...
to the Privy Council
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
, where he argued many significant constitutional issues. He played a key role in preparing the prosecution in the Coal Vend cases, arising out of prosecutions brought by then Attorney-General of Australia
Attorney-General of Australia
The Attorney-General of Australia is the first law officer of the Crown, chief law officer of the Commonwealth of Australia and a minister of the Crown. The Attorney-General is usually a member of the Federal Cabinet, but there is no constitutional requirement that this be the case since the...
Billy Hughes
Billy Hughes
William Morris "Billy" Hughes, CH, KC, MHR , Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923....
against a coal industry cartel
Cartel
A cartel is a formal agreement among competing firms. It is a formal organization of producers and manufacturers that agree to fix prices, marketing, and production. Cartels usually occur in an oligopolistic industry, where there is a small number of sellers and usually involve homogeneous products...
. The case was successful at first instance, but was lost on appeals to the full High Court and to the Privy Council
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
.
Nevertheless, Hughes was pleased with Powers' work, and Hughes opinion was undoubtedly influential when the Fisher government
Andrew Fisher
Andrew Fisher was an Australian politician who served as the fifth Prime Minister on three separate occasions. Fisher's 1910-13 Labor ministry completed a vast legislative programme which made him, along with Protectionist Alfred Deakin, the founder of the statutory structure of the new nation...
appointed Powers to the High Court of Australia in 1913. Powers was the only solicitor to be appointed, and remains the only Justice (with the exception of the initial three) to have not argued a case before the court. He was also the first Justice appointed without a university degree. Powers was one of two justices of the Court to have previously served in the Parliament of Queensland
Parliament of Queensland
The Parliament of Queensland is the legislature of Queensland, Australia. According to the state's constitution, the Parliament consists of the Queen and the Legislative Assembly. It is the only unicameral state parliament in the country, the upper chamber, the Legislative Council, having been...
, along with Samuel Griffith
Samuel Griffith
Sir Samuel Walker Griffith GCMG QC, was an Australian politician, Premier of Queensland, Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia and a principal author of the Constitution of Australia.-Early life:...
.
The appointment of Powers, along with the concurrent appointment of Albert Piddington
Albert Piddington
Albert Bathurst Piddington was the shortest serving Justice of the High Court of Australia, never actually sitting at the bench. Appointed on 6 March 1913, he resigned on 5 April after opponents questioned his independence.-Early life:Piddington was born in 1862 in Bathurst, New South Wales...
, were highly controversial. The press considered the two appointees to be insufficiently qualified, and both were criticised for their lack of expertise and experience. There was also controversy arising from Hughes' desire to appoint judges who would be sympathetic to interpreting the power of the Parliament of Australia
Parliament of Australia
The Parliament of Australia, also known as the Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It is bicameral, largely modelled in the Westminster tradition, but with some influences from the United States Congress...
broadly. Piddington caused the most public outrage for stating his sympathies in a telegram, although Powers had actually prepared many of the arguments Hughes would wish him to uphold on the bench.
While Piddington ultimately resigned, Powers persevered, and remained on the High Court. Later in 1913 he was made Deputy President of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration
Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration
The Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration is a defunct Australian court, which had jurisdiction to arbitrate interstate industrial disputes....
under Justice Higgins, leaving the court on 30 April 1920. He was reappointed as Deputy President on 12 February 1921 and ultimately succeeded Higgins as President on 30 June. As President, Powers introduced the first system of automatic adjustments to the basic wage to account for changes in the cost of living, applied quarterly. He finally left the Arbitration Court on 25 June 1926.
Powers was created a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
(KCMG) in 1929, and on 22 July that year resigned from the High Court. Powers died in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
in 1939.