The Task of Nations

by H.V. Evatt

1 pages, Hardcover

First published December 31, 1972

About the author

The Right Honorable Herbert Vere Evatt served on Australia's High Court from 1930 to 1940, the youngest appointee in the court's history (as of 2021). In 1941, he was appointed the country's Attorney General under Prime Minister John Curtin, serving in the role for nine years. In 1948 and 1949, he was President of the United Nations General Assembly, helping to draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. For this role, he was twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Curtin's successor Ben Chifley lost the 1949 election, and died in 1951. Evatt was named the new Leader of the Australian Labor Party, a position he held for 9 years. He served as Leader of the Opposition in Federal Parliament during this time, up against Australia's longest-serving Prime Minister Robert Menzies. The period was especially fraught for Labor due to the rise of Communism and the Red Scare, which saw the party famously split in two.

Nevertheless, Evatt found time to publish several non-fiction volumes including his classic "Rum Rebellion", telling the story of the 19th century overthrow of New South Wales' Governor Bligh by wealthy landed interests in the colony.

By 1960, having staved off several attempts to remove him as leader of the party, Evatt accepted a position as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, which was seen as a way for him to leave politics of his own choosing. Stress and declining health saw him step down from the role in October 1962, aged 68. Evatt spent his retirement in Canberra with his wife Mary until his death in 1965. The following decade a northern suburb in Canberra was named Evatt, in his honour.