Ronald Wilson

Sir Ronald Darling Wilson, (23 August 192215 July 2005) was a distinguished Australian lawyer, judge and social activist serving on the High Court of Australia between 1979 and 1989 and as the President of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission between 1990 and 1997.

Wilson is probably best known as the co-author with Mick Dodson of the 1997 ''Bringing Them Home'' report into the Stolen Generation which led to the creation of a National Sorry Day and a walk for reconciliation across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 2000 with an estimated people participating. Wilson was also one of three judges sitting on The WA Inc Royal Commission in the early 1990s which eventually led to former Premier Brian Burke being jailed in March 1997.

Early life and academic background

Wilson was born in Geraldton, in Western Australia (WA) on 23 August 1922. His early life was marked by sorrow and hardship. When he was four years old his mother died. At the age of seven his father, also a lawyer, suffered a stroke and spent the next five years in a hospice. His older brother became a father figure to him and for years the family faced financial struggles. At the age of 14, Wilson left formal schooling and took his first job as a messenger with the Geraldton Local Court.

In September 1941, following the outbreak of World War II, Wilson enlisted in the army reserve, which was known at the time as the Militia ( service no. W46518) and was posted to the 44th Battalion. ''World War II Nominal Roll'', "WILSON, RONALD DARLING"
/ref> The battalion was part of a Special Mobile Force stationed in coastal areas between Perth and Geraldton, to respond in the event of an attack by Japanese forces.

Transferring to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in July 1942, Wilson ( service no. 427404) received pilot training under the Empire Air Training Scheme, and was posted to the UK, for operations with Royal Air Force (RAF) formations. At the end of the war he was serving with No. 287 Squadron RAF, an anti-aircraft cooperation unit (i.e. it assisted in the training of anti-aircraft gunners). Wilson flew Spitfires, among other types of aircraft. He was discharged from the RAAF on 14 February 1946, with the rank of Flying Officer.

After returning to Australia, Wilson enrolled in the University of Western Australia finishing with a law degree in 1949. He later completed a Master of Laws degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1957, as a Fulbright scholar.

Early legal career

Wilson was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in 1951. He had a rapid rise in his legal career, becoming Crown Prosecutor for Western Australia in 1959, only eight years after starting work as a lawyer. In 1963, he was admitted as a Queen's Counsel, at the time, the youngest ever in Western Australia. As a prosecutor, Wilson earned the nickname of the "Avenging Angel".

In 2002 and 2005 two men he had prosecuted for murder have had their convictions overturned: John Button, who was convicted in 1963 of the manslaughter of his girlfriend Rosemary Anderson had his conviction overturned by the Western Australian Court of Appeal.. Darryl Beamish who had been convicted of the 1959 murder of Jillian Brewer had his conviction overturned in 2005.''Beamish v The Queen'' . Perth serial killer, Eric Edgar Cooke, confessed to both offences before he was hanged for other murders, but was not believed by authorities. The convictions were eventually overturned in 2002.

In 1969, Wilson became the Solicitor-General of Western Australia. He served in that position for ten years working under both Labor and Liberal governments.

High Court Justice, 1979-1989

The Fraser Government appointed Wilson to the High Court of Australia in 1979 and was the first member of the Court from Western Australia. Wilson adopted a federalist position on the court; and was frequently in the minority on issues relating to the scope of the Commonwealth's external affairs legislative power.

In ''Koowarta v Bjelke-Petersen'',. Wilson was in the minority in holding that the external affairs power in the Australian constitution applied only to relationships outside Australia. The majority of the High Court found that the treaty need only apply to issues of clear international concern. The majority held the Federal Parliament had the power to pass the ''Racial Discrimination Act 1975'' as a result of Australia being a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

In '' Commonwealth v Tasmania'', the external affairs power was again the central issue. The new Hawke Government had used the external affairs power as the basis for passing legislation preventing the Tasmanian Government from building a hydro-electric dam on the Franklin River. Wilson considered that the external affairs power di