The Walking Stick

This walking stick belonged to Sir Isaac Isaacs, Australia’s first native-born Governor General. His appointment to this position in 1931 was controversial – not because he was Jewish but because he was Australian. Previously, the post had always been held by a British aristocrat.

Isaacs was an ardent supporter of Empire and King but also a proponent of federation and the fledgling Australian Commonwealth. As a Justice of the High Court in the 1920s, his landmark decision in the Engineers Case overturned the ‘reserved powers’ of the States and fully established the paramountcy of the Commonwealth. This changed the direction of constitutional law in Australia.

Though not a practising Jew, Isaacs wrote extensively on topics related to Judaism for the Jewish News. His later writings on nationalism and religion placed him in staunch opposition to the Zionists, in particular with Professor Julius Stone on the need for a Jewish homeland.

Isaacs attributed his longevity to physical fitness. He loved to swim, go on long runs and to walk. It is easy to picture him on a long walk, with his stick, working through various arguments in his head.