iDIDJ Australia Didgeridoo Cultural Hub

Edward Woodward, 81, dies having made his mark
Stephen Lunn
April 16, 2010

EDWARD Woodward's compelling advocacy of native title and his groundbreaking royal commission in the 1970s laid the foundation for significant advancements in Aboriginal land rights.

But the influence of Sir Edward, who died in Melbourne yesterday aged 81, didn't stop at Aboriginal affairs.

As head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation in the late 70s he was credited with modernising a service mired in a Cold War mentality. And in the 90s as chancellor of the University of Melbourne he fought for and won cultural change, bringing in new levels of accountability in academic performance.

Sir Edward, whose distinguished legal career ranged across 17 royal commissions, was also something of a maverick, once rejecting an offer to become Victoria's governor because he didn't think it an appropriate position for an atheist.

But his legal work on indigenous land rights was arguably his finest achievement.

"Without this man, who put in so much care and conviction, Aboriginal people would still be fighting for their land rights," Galarrwuy Yunupingu, former chairman of the Northern Land Council and senior Yolngu elder, said yesterday. Mr Yunupingu, who worked closely with Sir Edward during the royal commission, said the Northern Territory's current land rights act "is Sir Edward's legacy".

Marcia Langton, professor of Australian indigenous studies at the University of Melbourne, said even before the royal commission Sir Edward's legal work was extremely influential.

He acted for the Yolngu people against miners Nabalco over a bauxite mine application in Arnhem Land, where he "effectively argued the case for native title without it yet being so called," Professor Langton said.

"He ran a brilliant case, we've all referred to it since, only losing because Justice Blackburn relied on Terra Nullius to override it."

Professor Langton said his strong advocacy prompted then prime minister Gough Whitlam to appoint Sir Edward to the royal commission in 1973.

Sir Edward is survived by his wife of 60 years, Lady Lois, and six of his seven children.