Ninian Stephen

The Right Honourable Sir Ninian Stephen KG AK GCMG GCVO KBE PC QC
20th Governor-General of Australia
In office 29 July 1982 – 16 February 1989
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Preceded by	Sir Zelman Cowen
Succeeded by	Bill Hayden
Justice of the High Court of Australia
In office 1 March 1972 – 11 May 1982
Nominated by	William McMahon
Preceded by	Sir Victor Windeyer
Succeeded by	Sir William Deane
Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria
In office 30 June 1970 – 29 February 1972
Personal details
Born	(1923-06-15) 15 June 1923 Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom
Spouse(s)	Valerie Sinclair (1949–present)
Children	5
Profession	Barrister, Judge
Military service
Allegiance	Australia
Service/branch	Australian Army
Years of service	1942–1946
Rank	Lieutenant

Sir Ninian Martin Stephen, KG AK GCMG GCVO KBE PC QC (born 15 June 1923) is an Australian jurist, who served as the 20th Governor-General of Australia and as a Justice in the High Court of Australia.

Early life

Ninian Martin Stephen was born on 15 June 1923 in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. He was less than a year old when his father, Frederick, who had been a motorcycle courier in World War I, died, leaving him to be raised by his mother Barbara. Stephen attended St Paul's School, West Kensington, London, from Spring Term 1937 to March 1938. He emigrated to Australia as a child. He was educated at Scotch College and the University of Melbourne, but his studies were interrupted by World War II, in which he served as a corporal in the Australian Army, 3rd Water Transport Group (Royal Engineers), in New Guinea and Borneo, rising to the rank of lieutenant before discharge 1946. He completed his legal studies in 1950 and was called to the Victorian Bar in 1952. By the 1960s he was one of Australia's leading constitutional and commercial lawyers. He was made a Queen's Counsel in 1966.

Judicial career

On 30 June 1970 Stephen was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria, which is the highest ranking court in the Australian State of Victoria. He held this position until 29 February 1972, relinquishing it to take up his appointment as a Justice of the High Court of Australia.

Although Stephen was appointed by a Liberal government, he proved not to be a traditional conservative upholder of states' rights. He joined the "moderate centre" of the court, between the arch-conservatism of Sir Garfield Barwick and the radicalism of Lionel Murphy. In 1982 he was part of the majority that decided on a broad interpretation of the "external affairs power" of the Australian Constitution in the Koowarta v Bjelke-Petersen case.

Governor-General

In March 1982, on the advice of the Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser, Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia appointed Stephen as Governor-General. He was sworn in on 29 July 1982, on the retirement of Sir Zelman Cowen. When Fraser was defeated by the Labor Party under Bob Hawke in 1983, Stephen had no difficulty working with a Labor government. In 1987, on Hawke's advice, the Queen extended Stephen's term by 18 months as a mark of personal respect and also to allow Bill Hayden (to whom Hawke had promised the position) to leave politics at a time of his choosing. Stephen is the only governor-general to have approved two double dissolutions – in 1983 (Malcolm Fraser) and 1987 (Bob Hawke).

Later work

In 1989 Stephen became the first Australian Ambassador for the Environment and, in his three-year term, was particularly energetic in working for a ban of mining in Antarctica. In 1991 he undertook a difficult task when he was appointed chairman of the second strand of the Northern Ireland peace talks. From 1993 to 1997 he was a judge on the international tribunals investigating war crimes in Yugoslavia and Rwanda. He has also been chairman of the Citizenship Council since 1998.^{citation needed}. In 1994, he acted as a special envoy of the UN Secretary General to resolve political conflicts in Bangladesh.^{citation needed}

Stephen has since moved back into the legal field, becoming president of the Arbitral Tribunal for the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes under Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).^{citation needed}

Honours, awards and styles

Stephen was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) on 20 April 1972 "for distinguished services to the Law" and sworn of the Privy Council in 1979. As Governor-General he was made a Knight of the Order of Australia (AK), Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) and Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO). In 1994 Queen Elizabeth II appointed him a Knight of the Garter (KG), being the most recent Australian to be granted a knighthood in the personal gift of the monarch of Australia. He therefore has the unusual distinction of holding five knighthoods and joined Lord Casey and Sir Paul Hasluck as one of the few Australian Knights of the Garter. In 1983 he received the French Légion d'honneur.

Stephen delivered the first Sir Ninian Stephen Lecture at the University of Newcastle's law school in 1993, giving his name to this lecture series.^{citation needed}

On 8 December 2011, with the death of Sir Zelman Cowen, Stephen became the last living Australian Knight of the Order of Australia (Charles, Prince of Wales is also a Knight of the Order).

• Ninian Stephen (1923–1966)
• Ninian Stephen QC (1966–1970)
• The Hon. Ninian Stephen QC (1970–1972)
• The Hon. Sir Ninian Stephen KBE, QC (1972–1979)
• The Rt. Hon. Sir Ninian Stephen KBE, QC (1979–1982)
• His Excellency the Rt. Hon. Sir Ninian Stephen AK GCMG GCVO KBE QC (1982–1989)
• The Rt. Hon. Sir Ninian Stephen AK, GCMG, GCVO, KBE, QC (1989–1994)
• The Rt. Hon. Sir Ninian Stephen KG, AK, GCMG, GCVO, KBE, QC (since 1994)

	Knight of the Order of the Garter (KG)	1994
	Knight of the Order of Australia (AK)	1982
	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG)	1982
	Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO)	1982
	Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE)	1970
	Knight of the Order of St John (KStJ)
	1939–45 Star
	Pacific Star
	War Medal 1939–1945
	Australia Service Medal 1939–45
	Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal	1977
	Australian Defence Medal	2006
	Commander of the Legion of Honour (France)	1983

Private life

Stephen married Valerie Sinclair in 1949 and is the father of five daughters. One of his daughters, Mary Stephen, was married to Peter Hayes QC.

Stephen and his wife are patrons of the Australian Inland Botanic Gardens.

See also

• Judiciary of Australia
• List of Judges of the Supreme Court of Victoria
• Victorian Bar Association
• Australian knights and dames

External links

• Supreme Court of Victoria Website
• The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre website

Offices held

Government offices
Preceded by Sir Zelman Cowen	Governor-General of Australia 1982–1989	Succeeded by Bill Hayden