Page 4632 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 31 October 2017
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Peter Daniels Clark II, who had disappeared in the year 2000, days before being sentenced by Justice Gallop.
Away from the courts, Justice Gallop was a successful cricketer. Amongst his achievements was representing the ACT from 1962 to 1966 as captain. This included playing for the Prime Minister’s XI against South Africa in 1964. He was also named ACT cricketer of the year in 1964-65. He served with distinction as a cricket administrator, as the ACT Cricket Association’s longest serving president. Cricket ACT’s one-day competition is named the John Gallop Cup in his honour, and he is a member of the ACT Sport Hall of Fame.
Along with all my colleagues in this place and everyone in the ACT government, our thoughts are with his partner, Judith, and all who knew him, at this difficult time.
MR COE (Yerrabi—Leader of the Opposition) (10.05): It is with sadness that I stand before the Assembly today expressing the condolences of the Liberal opposition at the passing of the Hon John Foster Gallop AM, QC, RFD on 24 September 2017.
Born in 1930, he came into a world that had been plunged into depression and hardship. Hardship was the norm. It was a trying time for most families, and it was surely a formative time for him and his family. He would thrive at school and would go on to study, and in 1962 John Gallop joined Norm Snedden and Allan Hall to form the legal firm Snedden Hall & Gallop, a firm that continues to thrive.
It is also noted that his commencement at Snedden Hall & Gallop almost perfectly tied in with the construction of the new ACT Supreme Court building. Of course, right now, with this time of renewal at the Supreme Court, there is time for reflection on some symbolism with that change.
After more than 10 years with the firm he left to join the bar here in the capital. Three years later he would be appointed a Queen’s Counsel. He went on to be appointed a presidential member of the AAT, President of the Defence Force Discipline Appeal Tribunal and a judge of the Supreme Court of Christmas Island.
His judicial appointments would also include, of course, the Supreme Court, which he became a judge of in 1982. He would go on to retire on his 70th birthday in 2000. Prior to his retirement, on 26 January 1998, as the Chief Minister said, he would become a Member of the Order of Australia for service to the law as a judge, to military law as a member of the Defence Force Discipline Appeal Tribunal, and to the community.
At his retirement Justice Gallop gave a personal tribute to those who had shaped him as a lawyer and his friends. He said, “As I face the final curtain, I wish I could say I did it my way, but I didn’t.” An emotional Justice Gallop told the court: “I did what I learnt in my early years in the law through my mentors and friends who are here today. I refer to Ron Bannerman, Alan Neaves and John Button. We are not talking about yesterday. We are talking about a period of 10 or 11 years, commencing in 1952.” He described how they had taught him about how a government lawyer should operate, how to conduct oneself in court and how to be a real professional.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video