Obituaries Australia

Ted Laurie, barrister and communist of national renown, died on October 29, aged 77 years.

Some highlights of his eventful life were: Scotch College Equal Dux, School Captain, Cricket Captain, Football Captain and Melbourne University Cricket and Rugby Blue. A wicket keeper of promise, he is believed to have been Don Tallon's understudy at one period.

He enlisted in the Communist Party in the '30s; served in the Second AIF in World War II, swam ashore from a torpedoed troopship and was lieutenant commanding an anti-aircraft battery in the battle of Milne Bay. He was also a communist candidate against Menzies for the federal seat of Kooyong.

In the Cold War, the young barister Laurie braved the blizzards of reaction to represent the party in and throughout two major marathon cases: the Lowe Royal Commission in 1949, a virtual inquisition into communism and the party, and the party's successful challenge against the Communist Party Dissolution Act (1950) in the High Court in 1951.

These cases began his reputation as a master advocate with distinctive qualities: command of the facts and the law, cheerful temper, wry humor, avoider of exaggeration and particularly distinguished for ethical conduct and candor.

He was devoted to communism but no less to the rule of law. Not only in capitalist but also communist countries. He believed governmental and executive bodies should always act legally, that there should be independent courts to ensure they did.

The Menzies attempt to misuse the Defence Power to curtail civil liberty in time of peace, and to bypass legal process by executive 'declaration', persuaded the High Court to rule five to one that the Communist Party Dissolution Act was unconstitutional. In the subsequent referendum to validate the measure, the popular vote was a resounding 'NO'.

Ted Laurie shared the Australian love of sport about which he was extremely knowledgeable, and the Australian ideal of fair play — in games, politics, and all aspects of life. His basic decency won him wide respect from colleagues and opponents alike.

Nailing his colors to the mast was not without a cost. Promotion to Queens Counsel was delayed many years because of his politics, which he refused to renounce.

In his later career he represented Aboriginal Land Councils in major claims throughout the Northern Territory. He will be long remembered.