Peter Drew Durack, QC (20 October 1926– 13 July 2008) was an Australian politician, representing the Liberal Party. He rose to become

Attorney-General of Australia The Attorney-GeneralThe title is officially "Attorney-General". For the purposes of distinguishing the office from other attorneys-general, and in accordance with usual practice in the United Kingdom and other common law jurisdictions, the Aust ...

. He served in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

from 1 July 1971 to 30 June 1993. From 1987 to 1989, he was a joint Father of the Senate along with Arthur Gietzelt, and from 1989 until his retirement, he held that title alone.

Biography

Durack was educated at

Aquinas College :''See also List of institutions named after Thomas Aquinas'' Aquinas College may refer to any one of several educational institutions: In Australia *Aquinas College, Perth, Roman Catholic boys' R–12 school *Aquinas College, Adelaide, residenti ...

and the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

. He was the state's 1949

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

and studied law at Lincoln College,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

, where he later taught. From 1956 he worked as a barrister in Perth and in 1965 was elected into the

Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House in the Western Australian capital, Perth. The Legislat ...

as the Member for Perth, a seat he held until 1968. He moved to federal politics by winning one of the Senate seats in the 1970 Senate election, taking office on 1 July 1971. He was

Minister for Repatriation The Minister for Veterans' Affairs is an Australian Government position. In the Government of Australia, the minister oversees income support, compensation, care and commemoration programs for more than 400,000 veterans and their widows, widowe ...

in the

Fraser Fraser may refer to: Places Antarctica * Fraser Point, South Orkney Islands Australia * Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra district of Belconnen * Division of Fraser (Australian Capital Territory), a former federal ...

government from July to October 1976, when the title of the portfolio was changed to Minister for Veterans' Affairs. In 1977, he was appointed Attorney-General, serving in that office until the Fraser government's defeat in 1983. During that time he was responsible for the passage of the Freedom of Information Act 1982; he had introduced a private member's bill on the same subject in 1972. He was deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate from 1983 to 1987, and 1990 to 1992. In 1992, he failed to win preselection by his party for a further term, and his political career ended in June 1993. The Commonwealth Law Courts Building on Victoria Avenue in

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

were named after Durack in 2005. He died in Perth on 13 July 2008.

Publications

Durack wrote several books, dealing with legal issues and the Mabo court case, with which he was involved during his time as Attorney-General. *''Evidence''. / *''The External Affairs Power'' / *''Mabo and After'' (with Ron Brunton & Tony Rutherford). /

Family

Durack was a grandson of

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

pioneer

Jeremiah Durack Jeremiah, Modern: , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning "Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish ...

, who was an uncle of Michael Patrick Durack (1865–1950). Durack, Michael Patrick (1865–1950)
/ref> He was therefore a cousin of authors Mary and Elizabeth Durack. Durack was married to Isabel, with whom he had daughter Anne and son Philip.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durack, Peter 1926 births 2008 deaths Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Members of the Australian Senate for Western Australia Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Cabinet of Australia Attorneys-General of Australia Australian Rhodes Scholars People educated at Aquinas College, Perth University of Western Australia alumni Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford 20th-century King's Counsel Australian King's Counsel 20th-century Australian politicians