5.1 The Court

Powers became President of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration on 1 July 1921. (He left the Court in April 1920, but returned as Deputy President in February 1921.) Two other judges of the High Court—Duffy and Rich—were appointed Deputy Presidents in August 1921. They resigned in June 1922 and two lawyers who were not High Court Judges—Quick and Webb—were appointed as Deputy Presidents. From then until 1926, the members of the Court were Powers, Quick, and Webb. In June 1926, Powers relinquished his position, and the Court was reconstituted in response to a High Court requirement that judicial functions be exercised only by judges with life tenure. A chief justice (Dethridge) and two judges (Lukin and Beeby) were appointed. Another judge (Drake-Brockman) was appointed in April 1927. Neither Quick nor Webb was given judicial status in the reconstituted Court. Webb resigned as Deputy President in February 1927. Quick remained until 1930 so as to complete the making of awards for the railway industry.

A reading of the Commonwealth Arbitration Reports gives the impression of a rising work load for the Court. Various industries came under its awards for the first time, partly as a consequence of High Court decisions about the Arbitration Court's jurisdiction (Kirby and Creighton 2004). Railways and printing were perhaps the most important. Speaking at the welcome to Drake-Brockman in April 1927, Attorney-General Latham referred to the rise in the number of matters pending as the reason for the additional appointment.