Robin Millhouse

Early life and career

Millhouse was born in Adelaide, to father Vivian Rhodes Millhouse, and mother Grace Lilly Ayliffe. Millhouse gained an LLB from the University of Adelaide in 1951 after attending St Peter's College, Adelaide.

Career

While practising as a barrister, Millhouse entered the South Australian House of Assembly on 7 May 1955 as the Liberal and Country League (LCL) member for Mitcham, a safe LCL seat in southeastern Adelaide. Millhouse rapidly gained a reputation as both the intellectual driving force behind the LCL and an outspoken spokesperson for the urban middle class faction of the LCL, a group under-represented within the party hierarchy.

Millhouse ran for the LCL leadership pre-selection following leader Sir Thomas Playford's retirement, but lost to Steele Hall, another member of the LCL's progressive faction. Instead, following the LCL's return to power at the 1968 election, Millhouse was given the portfolios of Attorney-General, Aboriginal Affairs, Social Welfare, and Labour and Industry. In these roles, Millhouse gained a reputation as a crusader for progressive social change as he sought to position South Australia as a national leader on social issues. During 1969 Millhouse was the architect and the major proponent for abortion on health grounds in South Australia, a decision he would come to regret decades later, claiming it had become "abortion on demand".

In the wake of the LCL's 1970 election loss, Millhouse was elected Deputy Leader of the Opposition on 2 June but resigned from the party on 18 March 1973 to form the Liberal Movement following growing dissatisfaction at the continuing conservatism of the LCL. While a number of other senior LCL members, including former premier Steele Hall, also joined the Liberal Movement, all except Millhouse eventually returned to the Liberal Party. Millhouse chose instead to form a new political party, named the New LM, before merging that with the Australia Party, the Centre-Line Party and other like minded groups to form the Australian Democrats and, as a sitting member, became the first Australian Democrats Member of Parliament. As a Democrat, he continued to campaign for progressive social issues, including the introduction of a bill to legalise prostitution in South Australia.

Taking silk

After having been made a Queen's Counsel in 1979, Millhouse resigned from parliament on 7 July 1982, sparking a Mitcham by-election, upon accepting a position as a South Australian Supreme Court justice. He served on the Supreme Court until his retirement due to age in December 1999.

Further judicial appointments

At his retirement sitting, he announced his appointment as Chief Justice of the High Court of Kiribati, a position he held until January 2011. He was Chief Justice of Nauru from 3 April 2006 to late 2010.

Following his retirement as Chief Justice of Kiribati, he served as a judge of High Court of Tuvalu from February 2014 and March 2015.

Personal life

He married Ann (deceased 1992) in 1957 and has three daughters and two sons. Millhouse died on 28 April 2017, aged 87.