Herbert Vere Evatt

Herbert Vere Evatt , 1894-1965, Australian statesman. He became (1940) a Labor member of the House of Representatives, before being appointed (1941) attorney general and then minister of foreign affairs. During World War II, Evatt was the Australian member of the Pacific War Council and a delegate to the UN Conference in 1945, where he championed the rights of the smaller nations and urged international control of atomic energy. In 1948-49 he was president of the UN General Assembly. He later led the Labor opposition in Parliament. Among his many books is The Task of Nations (1949).

Bibliography: See biography by K. Tennant (1971).

Evatt, Herbert Vere (1894–1965) Australian statesman. A federal politician (1925–30, 1940–60), he led the Labor Opposition (1951–60). Noted for his championship of the rights of the smaller nations, and for greater independence from Britain, Evatt presided over the UN General Assembly (1948–49).

Evatt, Herbert Vere (b. 30 Apr. 1894, d. 2 Nov. 1965). Australian Labor leader 1951–60 Born in East Maitland (New South Wales), he taught at the University of Sydney before developing a law practice that specialized in civil liberties. He resigned a safe Labor seat (which he held since 1925) to become the (then) youngest justice of the Australian High Court (1930–40). He returned to politics in 1940, when he was elected to the House of Representatives. He became the second most senior minister in the Curtin and Chifley Cabinets as Attorney-General and Minister for External Affairs, 1941–9. Concerned to strengthen Australia's links with its regional neighbours, he negotiated the ANZAC pact. He also became involved in the setting up of the UN, presiding over its General Assembly in 1948–9. A man with tremendous intellectual qualities but without much political judgement, he took over from Chifley as leader of the Labor Party, but did not have the charisma or the authority to prevent the party's third split since World War I over the Petrov Affair. He retired from politics in 1960 and served for two years as Chief Justice of New South Wales.

Democratic Labor Party