- Ron Withnall
Ronald John Withnall (
December 9 ,1914 -1990) was anAustralia n politician and lawyer.Withnall was born in Townsville,
Queensland , but went to school atCanterbury High School inSydney . He studied law at theUniversity of Sydney and later moved to theNorthern Territory . He served as the Crown Law Officer for the Territory from 1954 to 1968, when he was elected to theNorthern Territory Legislative Council , the forerunner to the current Legislative Assembly. In the same year, Withnall also became the inaugural President of theLaw Society of the Northern Territory .As a Member of the Legislative Council, Withnall made a name for himself as a fierce advocate of self-determination, and took part in the campaign which ultimately led to the creation of the Assembly in 1974. He ran as an independent in the first elections, and ultimately became one of only two non-
Country Liberal Party members (the other being fellow independentDawn Lawrie ) in the first Assembly. However, he was to only serve one term in the Assembly, and was replaced by theCountry Liberal Party 's Tom Harris.Withnall died in late 1990, and several condolence motions were presented in the Assembly upon his death.
Shane Stone , in his introductory speech upon his election to the Port Darwin electorate in 1990, referred to Withnall as a "fearless and uncompromising advocate of self-government and statehood for the Territory". In 1994, then-Chief MinisterMarshall Perron also praised Withnall's role in the Territory's achievement of self-governance. A 1976 interview with Withnall is on file at theNational Library of Australia .
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