Duncan Kerr (Denison, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on indulgence: I wish to make a couple of brief remarks on the death of Dennis Rose, a former chief general counsel of the Commonwealth. I understand that the member for Berowra will respond, both of us having held ministerial office at a time when Dennis was a significant figure in the Commonwealth. Dennis rose to the rank of Chief General Counsel and was, I think, the pre-eminent legal adviser of the Commonwealth for a decade. It is sometimes said of legal counsel that you can seek counsel to form views that suit the objectives that you wish to pursue. With Dennis Rose, that never would have been the case. He was always a man who gave you a straight and honest assessment of the law as he understood it. He came to law, which was his life learning and experience, with a commitment to best practice and to the Commonwealth and as a model litigant. He played a very significant constitutional role in this country for a long time. He came at a time when the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department was a very strong fortress of excellence. Jack Waterford, in the Canberra Times, said:

Were the central offices of the department considered as a law firm, as it now is, there was no firm in Australia, possibly the world, with more talent and expertise. And Rose was probably the best.

After his period with the Commonwealth he went on to become special counsel with Blake Dawson Waldron. He was given an honorary doctorate by the University of Tasmania. He is a Tasmanian by birth.

As someone who worked closely with him, I would like to record my own personal respect for his character, his honesty and his integrity in the roles he played for the Commonwealth. I also express my condolences to his family and the appreciation, I am sure, of members of both sides of politics for his service to the Commonwealth.

Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to commend, on indulgence, Dennis Rose. The honourable member who spoke before me, the member for Denison, mentioned that Dennis Rose was the Chief General Counsel of the Attorney-General’s Department between 1989 and 1995. My period of service as a minister was from 1996, but that does not in any way detract from my personal knowledge of the very high esteem in which he was held. His writings were very extensive, and they remained extensive after he retired from Commonwealth service and became the senior counsel to Blake Dawson Waldron solicitors between 1995 and 2006.

Of interest is that Dennis Rose was called upon to give advice in relation to the establishment of a republic. The Leader of the Opposition was very much involved in that question, and Dennis Rose was asked in 1993 to provide answers to a list of questions as to how that matter might move forward. He also wrote extensively in relation to proposals to fix corporations law in Australia. More recently, and of interest to me, he wrote an article in relation to judicial activism, The High Court’s decision in Al Kateb and Al Khafaji—a different perspective.

Dennis Rose was able to bring a lawyer’s view to complex and difficult questions. He brought those views in a balanced way, something that I very much respected. He always acted in the very highest tradition of the Commonwealth in relation to the service that he gave to the Attorney-General’s Department. More latterly, people are doing that under the aegis of the Australian Government Solicitor’s office. I am sure members of both sides recognise the very distinguished legal personages who have given us advice, particularly in constitutional matters, and are grateful for that service—personified by Dennis Rose, whose death we lament today.