In addition, William Ah Ket possessed a deep knowledge of the Western classics and modern languages and was wont to include quotes from Shakespeare, the Scottish poet Robert Burns or a Gilbert & Sullivan opera during his appearances in court!17. 5 Law Students Society Dinner to Sir Harrison Moore, Farrago 5(5), April 23, 1929. William was particularly active in the fight against racial discrimination. He went on to live in China for several years. of the massive petitions raised by the Anti-Opium League of place in The Stand during the season of The Oaks, the Caulfield William Ah Ket was Australia's first barrister of Asian heritage or ethnicity, born in Victoria in 1876. 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Celebrating Asian Australian Lawyers: From William Ah Ket to Today, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ah-ket-william-4979, https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54dd81c6e4b074b4a339bb2e/t/, https://arrow.latrobe.edu.au/store/3/4/5/5/1/public/stories/wahket.htm, https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/145813/2/Morrison%20Oration%2002.pdf. We should have done Medicine.16, There are many more interesting stories and facts that one could relate about William and his legacy. After reading with (Sir) Stewart McArthur, I because I am Chinese. It also discusses the importance of cultural diversity in the workplace and within the community, particularly during a time when racism has become more prominent since COVID-19. James_Michael, Hm qua, lc 22:28. We should have done Medicine.16, There are many more interesting stories and facts that one could relate about William and his legacy. He was an excellent after-dinner speaker, a prominent Freemason and a keen punter and golfer. William Ah Ket (1876-1936), lawyer and campaigner for Chinese rights, was born in Wangaratta, Victoria. "But when it came to law, he knew very well what it was like to struggle and be poor and oppressed, so his sympathies were always on the side of the underdog.". On 16 November 1912 he married Gertrude Victoria Bullock at the Kew Methodist Church. The Asian Australian Lawyers He went to the bar the following year and is widely understood to have become the first Australian lawyer of Chinese descent to practise as a barrister at the independent bar in the state of Victoria.3. Parliament for the new Republic in 1912. live, learn and work. English-born forebears had migrated to Australia from Cheshire He was a leading activist in the campaigns for equal rights for Chinese-Australians at a time when anti-Chinese sentiment ran deep. William stayed involved with the University and was elected the President of the Law Students Society on 19 April 1907.4 Some 20 years later, in 1929, William supported a toast in favour of Sir Harrison Moore, the third Dean of Melbourne Law School, at a dinner hosted by the Law Students Society to mark Sir Harrisons retirement in 1927. in 1982 and is currently writing the biography of her father. Fulfilling his fathers wishes, William studied law at the University of Melbourne. We will never satisfy our ambitions. After the formalities conclude, enthusiastic discussion ensues among the guests about William and his legacy and includes a combination of questions and observations: How is it that William Ah Ket is not more widely known?; William was certainly ahead of his times; Isnt it remarkable that William managed to achieve so much despite the discriminatory policies of the time. The reason why the Chinese laundry owner had been charged was that a Chinese man had been found in the laundry between 9 and 10 pm at night ironing a shirt, apparently in breach of the after-hours work prohibition. Masonic Lodge No.123 and held life-membership of the MCG so Whatever the challenges that William faced during his sixty years, there is no doubt that his life was one of diversity and service. Special thanks to Jennifer Wood, Kate Bagnall, Pauline Rule and the National Library of Australia for helping with research. "That's why his story's so important to us.". or the editors of the website. After living in China for many years, he returned to Australia as an adult but was treated as a prohibited immigrant because he failed a dictation test imposed by the immigration legislation at the time. member of Melbourne's See Yup Society. in Australia ended, he settled in Wangaratta to raise his He fought against the requirements of the 1907 Factories (Employment of Chinese) Act, which discriminated against . [9] (1908) 7 CLR 277. His father had arrived in Victoria in 1855 and after some years on the goldfields established one of the earliest tobacco-farms on the King River. 7Citing Sir Robert Menzies,The Measure of the Years (Cassell Australia, 1970) at 249. 1901. William's client, James Minahan, was born in Australia to an Anglo-Australian mother and Chinese father. C. F. Yong, The Chinese in New South Wales and Victoria, 1901-1921 (Ph.D. thesis, Australian National University, 1966). In a passage that is still recognised as current law in Australia, Justice OConnor stated as follows: It is improbable that the legislature would overthrow fundamental principles, infringe rights, or depart from the general system of law, without expressing its intention with irresistible clearness [10], Despite the bamboo ceiling that William must have encountered during his life and career, it appears that his mission was to remove barriers and, as his daughter Toylaan Ah Ket wrote, to implement his personal philosophy of building bridges between the East and West.'[11]. Fax: +61 3 9479 1880 He fought against the White Australia policy and racist laws targeting Chinese workers as Australia's first barrister of Chinese descent. Supplied: William Ah Ket's descendants Topics: history , laws , melbourne-3000 Top Stories 'Total deviousness': Witnesses recount 'suspicious' inferno in the Luna Park Ghost Train 'If you're offered it, take it': Government backs AstraZeneca despite blood clot concerns Published: TueTue 28 Feb 2023 at 12:00am/with Kirsti Melville, Published: 21 Feb 2023Tue 21 Feb 2023 at 12:00am/with Kirsti Melville, Published: 14 Feb 2023Tue 14 Feb 2023 at 12:00am/with Kirsti Melville, Published: 7 Feb 2023Tue 7 Feb 2023 at 12:00am/with Kirsti Melville. 5 Law Students Society Dinner to Sir Harrison Moore, Farrago 5(5), April 23, 1929. Sir Robert Menzies practised with William in Selbourne Chambers. "Remembering William Ah Ket is about remembering these rights were fought for they weren't just given by the benevolent government," she says. William's father, Mah Ket, became highly respected He said that "William Ah Ket did not ever sit on the Bench, though he would have been a very competent judge. he moved to Melbourne to study Law at Melbourne University. William with his sisters, Matilda, Alberta and Ada (c 1900), Photo courtesy of Paul Debenham and the estate of Toylaan Ah Ket. joint Trusteeship with Sir Colin MacKenzie in the founding [3] Citing Karin Derkley, William Ah Ket Legacy Recognised (2018) 92(3) Law Institute Journal 83 at 83, 84. the efforts of William Ah Ket in Melbourne and William J. He joined the Victorian Bar in 1904, reading with Stewart McArthur who later went on to be a Supreme Court judge and became the first Chinese barrister to practise in Melbourne. Even though the laws he fought against no longer exist, she says Australia continues to treat new migrant groups with suspicion. It is fitting and proper that this scholarship is named for him.9, In the program notes, the recipient of the 2019 William Ah Ket Scholarship, Ms Tienyi Long, Legal and Governance Officer at Glen Eira City Council, Victoria writes that [l]awyers, courts and legislators continue to grapple with the question of how equal justice can be achieved for diverse communities in a multifaceted and increasingly complex societydiversity intelligence is an essential skill to facilitate equal access to justice for diverse communitiesit should be included as part of mandatory continuing professional development requirements under the Legal Profession Uniform Law.10. . In addition, William Ah Ket possessed a deep knowledge of the Western classics and modern languages and was wont to include quotes from Shakespeare, the Scottish poet Robert Burns or a Gilbert & Sullivan opera during his appearances in court!17. 10William Ah Ket Scholarship 2019, Program (9 October 2019). For group subscribers, please click here to access.Interested in group subscription? By Andrew GodwinAssociate Director (Asian Commercial Law), Asian Law Centre, Melbourne Law School. At the age of 35, William was married at the Kew Methodist community, such as Quong Tart in Sydney and Cheok Hong. of his time who could mix with ease, and enjoy widespread So begins the biography of William Ah Ket [] in the Australian Dictionary of Biography. Noting that music had a peculiar charm for Confucius, he mused that had Confucius lived then, it is quite likely that he would have found in the music of the bagpipes something particularly stirring and satisfying to the soul.15 William would have had an affinity with bagpipes as his wife, Gertrude Bullock, was of Scottish descent. Mantova, utca. There is little doubt that William Ah Ket's William was particularly active in the fight against racial discrimination. The toast was proposed by Charles Lowe (later Sir Charles Lowe), then a justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria and subsequently Chancellor of Melbourne University between 1941 and 1954, and was also supported by Justice Owen Dixon of the High Court and Professor Kenneth Bailey, then Dean of Melbourne Law School.5 Interestingly, William had appeared in cases as senior to Lowe and as junior to Dixon before they were elevated to the bench. I am grateful for the opportunity of coming to know more about William Ah Ket. Tel: +61 3 9479 1315 This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced. He was also a delegate to the first interstate Chinese convention held at Melbourne in 1905 and was co-founder and president of the Sino-Australian Association, considered to be the first Australian-Chinese club. William had 4 sisters: Alberta Young (born Ah Ket) and 3 other siblings. "Rumpole" of the Victorian Supreme Court, gaining Guineas and the Melbourne Cup, where he was recognised as Captain Stanley Ket (LLB) served with the Intelligence Unit [2] William stayed involved with the University and was elected the President of the Law Students Society on 19 April 1907. He served his articles under Richard Cross of the firm then known as Maddock & Jamieson (now Maddocks) in 1903. He visited China in 1912-13 as the delegate of the Victorian Chinese Chamber of Commerce to participate in the election of overseas Chinese to the new parliament of the Republic. At that time, people born in Australia were British citizens by right, regardless of their parents origins. he signed the Bar Roll in 1904 and became the first Chinese He said that "William Ah Ket did not ever sit on the Bench, though he would have been a very competent judge. With ( Sir ) Stewart McArthur, I because I am Chinese should have done Medicine.16, are. 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