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by Frank Brennan (Editor)
Looking back on his public life in the law, Sir Gerard Brennan said, 'It has been a great adventure to have been in the company of those whom I have respected for their devotion to justice according to law, not least when we have not been unanimous in our definitions of the law.' In these two volumes of my father's extra-judicial writings and speeches, I set out some of the key landmarks, some of the many quandaries, and many of the little nudges made by him in his contribution to the law and to what he was fond of calling a free and confident nation. His contributions to administrative law and the jurisprudence of judicial review have been set out in The Brennan Legacy: Blowing the winds of legal orthodoxy edited by Professors Robin Creyke and Patrick Keyzer in 2002. Jeff Fitzgerald published a detailed biography Sir Gerard Brennan: The Law's Good Servant in 2024. Hopefully this collection, letting him speak for himself, can complement existing publications reflecting on his judicial method and achievements. This second volume contains his views on Aboriginal land rights, an Australian republic and international recognition of human rights as well as key insights into faith and reason which he shared with Christian lawyers and Catholic social service organisations.
Fr Frank Brennan SJ, editor
Fr Frank Brennan SJ AO, a son of Sir Gerard, is Adjunct Professor at the Thomas More Law School at ACU and Adjunct Research Professor at the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture. He chaired the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance's Review of the Australian Journalists' Code of Ethics. He chaired the National Human Rights Consultation for the Rudd Government and was a member of the Turnbull Government's expert panel which conducted the Religious Freedom Review. The Morrison Government appointed him to the Voice Co-Design Senior Advisory Group to help guide the Co-Design process to develop options for an Indigenous voice to parliament. His Order of Australia was for services to Aboriginal Australians, particularly as an advocate in the areas of law, social justice and reconciliation. He is the author of 16 books.
