Anthony Mason (judge)

In 2012, statements in some of Kerr's papers, released by the National Archives, following a request by Professor Jenny Hocking were given publicity in her biography, Gough Whitlam: His Time. Kerr confirms that in 1975 Mason had advised him on whether the Constitution allows a Governor-General to dismiss a Prime Minister who is unable to obtain supply. Kerr claims that Mason, as well as Chief Justice Sir Garfield Barwick, had advised him that there is such power and that he had followed that advice.

In response, on 27 August 2012 Mason published his own account in major newspapers.

After retiring from the High Court, in 1997 Mason was appointed one of the Non-Permanent Judges of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, a position that he held until 2015. He was also President of the Court of Appeal of the Solomon Islands and was a judge on the Supreme Court of Fiji.

In addition to those judicial roles, from 1994 to 1999 Mason served as Chancellor of the University of New South Wales. From 1996 to 1997, he was a professor of legal science at the University of Cambridge and served as Chairman of the Council of National Library of Australia in 1997–1998. He is also a visiting fellow at the Faculty of Law at the Australian National University.

On 11 November 1975, Governor-General Sir John Kerr summoned Prime Minister Gough Whitlam to his residence and, without warning, handed him a letter dismissing him, together with his ministers, from office. Kerr's 1978 autobiography mentions that he had discussed this possibility with Mason but gives no detail.

Mason's account challenges the accuracy and completeness of Kerr's account in several respects, but most importantly on his advice regarding power to dismiss a Prime Minister. He confirms that as early as August 1975 he had advised Kerr, as a "close friend", that the Governor-General does have such power. He confirms, as Kerr's autobiography had stated although Kerr's papers give a different impression, that he had only advised Kerr on the available courses of action and had not advised him to pursue the course of dismissal.

Mason also stresses that he had warned Kerr on several occasions and as late as 9 November 1975 that the Governor-General could exercise that power only after notifying the Prime Minister that he would do so if the Prime Minister did not agree to holding a general election. On 19 November, Mason says, he asked Kerr to ensure that his papers contained that warning, but Kerr did not do that.

However, on 11 November 1975 Kerr dismissed Whitlam summarily. Had Kerr notified Whitlam of his intention, Whitlam could have got in first by advising the Queen to dismiss Kerr. Mason confirms that Kerr was well aware of the danger of what Kerr referred to as a "race to the Palace". Indeed, Mason says, Kerr had told him that Whitlam had once raised with him the possibility of such a situation.

Mason recounts that, in August or soon after in 1975, Kerr had been told by a member of the Prime Minister's department that Whitlam was of the view that, if Kerr were to indicate that he might dismiss Whitlam, Whitlam would advise the Queen to dismiss Kerr. Mason states that at Kerr's request on 9 November he drafted a letter dismissing Whitlam, although without consulting him further a "very different" text was used.

In 1969, Mason was made a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, where he sat as a member of the Court of Appeal. In the same year he was appointed by the Gorton Government to a three-year term on the council of the Australian National University. He served on the Supreme Court until 1972, when he was appointed to the bench of the High Court of Australia and received a knighthood (KBE). After fifteen years on the High Court, and following the retirement of Sir Harry Gibbs, in 1987 Mason was appointed Chief Justice; he retired in 1995 on reaching the constitutionally mandatory retirement age of 70.

Mason was admitted to the New South Wales Bar. For five years he lectured in law at the University of Sydney, his students including three future High Court Justices, Mary Gaudron, William Gummow and Dyson Heydon. In November 1964, aged 39, Mason was announced as the new Solicitor-General of Australia, with an accompanying appointment as Queen's Counsel (QC). He was the first person to serve as solicitor-general in a standalone capacity, as the office had previously been held by the secretary of the Attorney-General's Department. In 1966 he appeared opposite future High Court colleague William Deane, successfully arguing that the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council should reject an appeal from the High Court case of R v Anderson; Ex parte IPEC-Air Pty Ltd. He served until 1969 and during this time contributed greatly to the development of the Commonwealth's administrative law system.

Sir Anthony Frank Mason AC KBE GBM KC HonFAIB DistFRSN (born 21 April 1925) is an Australian judge who served as the ninth Chief Justice of Australia, in office from 1987 to 1995. He was first appointed to the High Court in 1972, having previously served on the Supreme Court of New South Wales.