Ronald John Withnall AM (9 September 1914 – 16 September 1990) was an Australian politician and lawyer. Withnall was born in

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, but attended school at Canterbury High School in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. He studied 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 ...

and later moved to the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

. He served as the Crown Law Officer for the Territory for many years. He was also the first president of the Northern Territory Law Society in 1968. Withnall was appointed to the

Northern Territory Legislative Council The Northern Territory Legislative Council was the partly elected governing body of the Northern Territory of Australia from 1947 until its replacement by the fully elected Northern Territory Legislative Assembly in 1974. Prior to 1947, there h ...

in 1960 in his capacity as Crown Law Officer. In 1966, he contested and won an elected seat in the Legislative Council. Among Withnall's votes as an elected member included voting against the abolition of capital punishment and opposing women jurors, stating that the latter would happen "over my dead body". As a Member of the Legislative Council, Withnall made a name for himself as a fierce advocate of self-determination, and took part in the campaign which ultimately led to the creation of the Assembly in 1974. He ran as an independent in the seat of

Port Darwin Port Darwin is the port in Darwin, Northern Territory, and is the most northerly port in Australia. The port has operated in a number of locations, including Stokes Hill Wharf, Cullen Bay, and East Arm Wharf. Since 2015, the port has bee ...

in the first elections, and ultimately became one of only two non-

Country Liberal Party The Country Liberal Party of the Northern Territory (CLP), commonly known as the Country Liberals, is a centre-right and conservative political party in Australia's Northern Territory. In territory politics, it operates in a two-party system wi ...

members (the other being fellow independent

Dawn Lawrie Alline Dawn Lawrie (born 3 November 1938) is an Australian former politician. She was the independent member for Nightcliff in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 1974 to 1983; in the First Assembly, she and fellow independent Ro ...

) in the first Assembly. However, he was to only serve one term in the Assembly, and was replaced by the

's Tom Harris. Withnall died in late 1990, and several condolence motions were presented in the Assembly upon his death.

Shane Stone Shane Leslie Stone (born 25 September 1950) is an Australian political figure. He is a member and former leader of the Country Liberal Party, and was the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory between May 1995 and February 1999. Since Oct ...

, in his introductory speech upon his election to the Port Darwin electorate in 1990, referred to Withnall as a "fearless and uncompromising advocate of self-government and statehood for the Territory". In 1994, then-

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

Marshall Perron Marshall Bruce Perron (born 5 February 1942) is a former Australian politician, who was Chief Minister of the Northern Territory from 1988 to 1995.

also praised Withnall's role in the Territory's achievement of self-governance. A 1976 interview with Withnall is on file at the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

References

1914 births 1990 deaths Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Council Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Sydney Law School alumni 20th-century Australian politicians {{Australia-politician-stub