Clive Raleigh Evatt (6 June 1900 – 15 September 1984) was an Australian politician, barrister and raconteur. He was a member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

from 1939 until 1959. At various times he sat as a member of the

Industrial Labor Party The Industrial Labor Party or Heffron Labor Party was a short-lived but influential political party active in New South Wales between 1936 and 1939. It was a splinter group of the Labor Party (ALP) and was formed by Bob Heffron after he and C ...

, Labor Party and as an independent.

Early life

Clive Raleigh Evatt was born in

East Maitland East Maitland is a suburb in Maitland, New South Wales, Australia. The traditional owners and custodians of the Maitland area are the Wonnarua people. Commercial areas Green Hills is a major commercial district called which includes the larg ...

, the son of an immigrant publican who died when Evatt was one year old. His middle name was given in honour of his first cousin Raleigh Evatt, the son of his uncle Major-General Sir George Evatt. One of eight brothers, including

H. V. Evatt Herbert Vere "Doc" Evatt, (30 April 1894 – 2 November 1965) was an Australian politician and judge. He served as a justice of the High Court of Australia from 1930 to 1940, Attorney-General of Australia, Attorney-General and Minister for For ...

, he was educated at Fort Street Boys' High School. Evatt's family prevented him from enlisting in the First AIF, but allowed him to enroll in the

Royal Military College, Duntroon The Royal Military College, Duntroon, also known simply as Duntroon, is the Australian Army's Officer (armed forces), officer training establishment. It was founded at Duntroon, Australian Capital Territory, Duntroon in Canberra, Australian Capi ...

from which he graduated as a lieutenant in 1921. He resigned from the army the following year to study law at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

. While at university, he played

Rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

for

University A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

and

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, and was the editor for Undergraduate journal

Hermes Hermes (; ) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology considered the herald of the gods. He is also widely considered the protector of human heralds, travelers, thieves, merchants, and orators. He is able to move quic ...

. Evatt graduated and was admitted to the New South Wales Bar in 1926.Cunneen, Chris and McLaughlin. John
"Clive Raleigh Evatt (1900–1984)"

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

, 2007, via

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

(access: 2009-01-12) He married Marjorie Andreas, the daughter of

Harry Andreas Harry Andreas (born Ehenriech Phillip Andreas; 1879–1955) was an Australian businessman and Board of directors, company director. As a Big-game fishing, big-game fisherman he pioneered the sport in New Zealand. He was the inventor of the Andre ...

of Leuralla, in 1928 and they had three children:

Elizabeth Evatt Elizabeth Andreas Evatt (born 11 November 1933), an eminent Australian reformist lawyer and jurist who sat on numerous national and international tribunals and commissions, was the first Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia, the f ...

; Penelope Seidler and defamation barrister Clive Evatt Jnr. In 1940 the Evatt family built Evatt House in , their home until the death of Clive and Marjorie Evatt in 1984. Evatt's career as a barrister advanced rapidly and he was appointed a

King's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1935. He specialized in

Workers' Compensation Workers' compensation or workers' comp is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her emp ...

cases but also appeared in criminal cases, most notably in the Shark Arm case, where he successfully defended Patrick Brady.

Political career

In March 1939 he successfully contested the by-election caused by the death of James Webb, the member for

Hurstville Hurstville is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is south of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD and is part of the St George, New South Wales, St George area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of ...

in the Legislative Assembly. Evatt had been endorsed by the

Bob Heffron Robert James Heffron (10 September 189027 July 1978), also known as Bob Heffron or R. J. Heffron, was a long-serving New South Wales politician, union organiser and New South Wales Labor Party, AustralianLabor Party (ALP) Premier of New South ...

and defeated a candidate of the Australian Labor Party (NSW) supported by Jack Lang. This and a subsequent defeat at a by-election in Waverley signalled the end of Lang's term as

Leader of the Australian Labor Party in New South Wales The New South Wales Labor Party, officially known as the Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) and commonly referred to simply as NSW Labor, is the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The branch is the current ...

. The Industrial Labor Party was dissolved and Evatt was admitted to the Labor Party caucus when Lang was replaced as Labor leader by

William McKell Sir William John McKell, (26 September 1891 – 11 January 1985) was an Australian politician who served as the 12th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1947 to 1953. He had previously been Premier of New South Wales from 1941 to 19 ...

who subsequently led the ALP to victory at the 1941 election. Evatt served in the governments of

, James McGirr and

Joseph Cahill John Joseph Cahill (21 January 189122 October 1959), also known as Joe Cahill or J. J. Cahill, was a long-serving New South Wales politician, railway worker, trade unionist and New South Wales Labor Party, Labor Party Premier of New South Wale ...

Minister for Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

(1941–1944), Minister in Charge of Tourist Activities and Immigration (1946–1947), Minister for Housing (1947–1950 and 1952–1954) and Chief Secretary (1950–1952). As Housing minister, Evatt presided over the significant expansion of public housing administered by the Housing Commission and initiated various schemes of slum clearance in inner Sydney, such as in Redfern. Tensions within the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party leading up to the 1950s party split led to Cahill forcing Evatt from the cabinet. Evatt was expelled from the Labor Party on 13 July 1956 after he voted in parliament against a caucus decision to increase tram fares. He fought the subsequent election as an independent Labor candidate but he was defeated by the endorsed ALP candidate Bill Rigby, his former private secretary, whom he later also should represent in a defamation case.

Life after politics

After leaving politics Evatt continued to work as a barrister with a large Worker's Compensation and

defamation Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

practice. He died at

Darlinghurst Darlinghurst is an inner-city suburb in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the Ci ...

on 15 September 1984, survived by his three children. His son was also named Clive and was also a well-known defamation barrister.

References

, - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Evatt, Clive 1900 births 1984 deaths 20th-century Australian lawyers 20th-century Australian military personnel 20th-century Australian politicians Australian Army officers Australian King's Counsel Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Australian people of English descent Australian rugby league players Colonial secretaries of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Military personnel from New South Wales New South Wales rugby league team players People educated at Fort Street High School Royal Military College, Duntroon graduates Rugby league players from Maitland, New South Wales Sydney University rugby league team players 20th-century Australian sportsmen Ministers for education (New South Wales)