| The Right Honourable Sir Ninian Stephen KG AK GCMG GCVO KBE QC |
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| In office 29 July 1982 – 16 February 1989 |
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| Preceded by | Sir Zelman Cowen |
| Succeeded by | Bill Hayden |
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| In office 1 March 1972 – 11 May 1982 |
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| Preceded by | Sir Victor Windeyer |
| Succeeded by | Sir William Deane |
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| Born | 15 June 1923 Oxfordshire, United Kingdom |
| Profession | Barrister and Judge |
Sir Ninian Martin Stephen, KG, AK, GCMG, GCVO, KBE, QC (born 15 June 1923) was the 20th Governor-General of Australia and a Justice in the High Court of Australia.
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Ninian Martin Stephen was born on 15 June 1923 in Oxfordshire, England. His father, Frederick, who had been a motorcycle courier in World War I, died before Sir Ninian was a year old, leaving him to be raised by his mother Barbara and with the assistance of Miss Milne, to whom Mrs Stephen was a companion. He attended St. Paul's School, West Kensington, London from Spring Term 1937 to March 1938.[1] He migrated to Australia as a child. He was educated at Scotch College and at the University of Melbourne, but his studies were interrupted by World War II, in which he served in the Australian Army in New Guinea and Borneo and rising to the rank of lieutenant. He completed his legal studies in 1950, and was called to the Victorian Bar in 1952. By the 1960s he was one of Australia's leading constitutional and commercial lawyers. He was made a Queen's Counsel in 1966.
On 30 June 1970 Stephen was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria, which is the highest ranking court in the Australian State of Victoria. He held this position until 29 February 1972.
Stephen was later appointed as a Justice to the High Court of Australia.
Although Stephen was appointed by a Liberal government, he proved not to be a traditional conservative upholder of states' rights. He joined the "moderate centre" of the court, between the arch-conservatism of Sir Garfield Barwick and the radicalism of Lionel Murphy. In 1982 he was part of the majority that decided on a broad interpretation of the "external affairs power" of the Australian Constitution in the Koowarta case.
In March 1982, on the advice of the Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser, Queen Elizabeth II as Queen of Australia appointed Stephen Governor-General. Like his predecessor, Sir Zelman Cowen, he was a "safe" choice: discreet, politically neutral and with a wide knowledge of constitutional law. When Fraser was defeated by the Labor Party under Bob Hawke in 1983, Stephen had no difficulty working with a Labor government. In 1987, on Hawke's advice, the Queen extended Stephen's term by 18 months, as a mark of personal respect and also to allow Bill Hayden (to whom Hawke had promised the position) to leave politics at a time of his choosing.
Sir Ninian Stephen was the only governor-general to approve two double dissolutions - in 1983 (Malcolm Fraser) and 1987 (Bob Hawke).
In 1989 Sir Ninian became the first Australian Ambassador for the Environment, and in his three-year term was particularly energetic in working for a ban of mining in Antarctica. In 1991 he undertook one of the most difficult of all tasks when he was appointed chairman of the second strand of the Northern Ireland peace talks. Between 1993 and 1997 he was a judge on the international tribunals investigating war crimes in Yugoslavia and Rwanda. He has also been chairman of the Citizenship Council since 1998.
Stephen was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1970, and sworn of the Privy Council in 1979. As Governor-General he was made a Knight of the Order of Australia, Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George and Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order. In 1994 Queen Elizabeth II appointed him a Knight of the Garter. He therefore has the unusual distinction of holding five knighthoods and joined Lord Casey as one of the few Australian Knights of the Garter.
In 1983, he received the Legion d'Honneur.
Stephen delivered the first Sir Ninian Stephen Lecture at the University of Newcastle's Law School in 1993, giving his name to this lecture series.
Sir Ninian married Valerie Sinclair in 1949, and is the father of five daughters. One of his daughters, Mary Stephen, was married to Peter Hayes QC.
Lady Stephen and Sir Ninian are patrons of the Australian Inland Botanic Gardens.[2]
| Government offices | ||
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| Preceded by Sir Zelman Cowen |
Governor-General of Australia 1982 – 1989 |
Succeeded by Bill Hayden |
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   | Supreme Court of Victoria Website - Supreme Court of Victoria - Supreme Court of Victoria |
| | The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre website - Hawke Centre patron: Sir Ninian Stephen |
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