This is by no means a conventional biography but rather a collection of essays assessing Murphy’s forty years in public life as Senator, Attorney-General and High Court Judge.
In a period of 18 months, or thereabouts, he significantly made lasting changes to the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) and the way in which that organization could interact with Australian citizens; sweeping reform of Family Law including the introduction of no fault divorce (which until that time was the subject of seven different jurisdictions); appointment of the first Commonwealth Ombudsman and other steps associated with the introduction of a comprehensive system of Administrative Law; establishment and funding of Australian Legal Aid Office (the precursor to Legal Aid Commissions); introduction of a uniform censorship classification system; introduced Trade Practices, Human Rights and Superior Court (Federal Court) legislation.
After his appointment to the High Court, Murphy continued to bring his reformist mentality to bear on the Constitution and the knotty problems of statutory interpretation. The Court had not previously had his like amongst them. This was as much a reflection on the system of selecting suitable candidates as it was on the quality of the available pool.
His career was severely interrupted when it was alleged that he had engaged in corrupt behavior. The issue raged through the press, parliament and the community and was finally resolved by a trial and a not guilty verdict. The matter was concluded not long before Murphy’s death but not before political scores were settled and the broader community agonized about the impeachment of a High Court judge.
The authors each lay claim to a specialist field and write with some conviction on their particular area. If the book suffers at all it is from an academic or legalistic style on the part of some of the writers. ( )