Robert Randolph Garran and the Australian Commonwealth: a study in public service

Abstract

This thesis is a biographical study of the lawyer and public servant Robert Randolph Garran (1867-1957), an influential figure in the creation of the Commonwealth of Australia and the development of its status within the British Empire-Commonwealth. Garran's 'public service' encompassed bureaucratic, cultural, diplomatic and legal dimensions in an emerging framework of national, imperial and international institutions. A man inspired by his free settler family background, with compelling antecedents in eighteenth-century colonial Virginia, Garran's career was remarkable for longevity and impact: from the young barrister active in the 'popular' federal movement of the 1890s, as first Secretary of the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department from 1901 and also Solicitor-General from 1916, to a busy retirement from 1932 until his death. Some aspects of Garran's career remain controversial: for instance, his role in the administration of the War Precautions Act involved him in the illiberalism of the First World War domestic scene and its aftermath in Australia. This study considers what assessment of Garran can be credibly sustained in the twenty-first century, almost seventy years after his death.

Garran held a dynamic view of the Australian national project. His life of public service was directed towards creating political and legal institutions, and encouraging broader cultural development, which together could provide a solid foundation for a living, evolving Australian Commonwealth. The study offers insights into diverse aspects of Australian nation-building by examining the life of a career bureaucrat whose distinctive vision was shaped by family heritage, the law, culture and ideas. Out of the many elements of that long and varied life, the thesis constructs a broadly defined public service theme as the means to examine Garran's multi-faceted perception of what was required to build a nation. It seeks a contemporary understanding of both Garran, the man, and his public service to the Australian Commonwealth at home and abroad, and to contribute towards an enhanced appreciation of the importance of effective institutions, especially a bureaucracy, in a well-functioning, modern liberal democracy. Show more