Colonel Jim and the politician

During the 1970s, high-profile interstate ‘defendants’ would occasionally grace the dock in Queensland, spouting eminently reportable speeches about the state of personal liberties here that failed to make any difference to the situation.

One such time, Tom Uren, a Whitlam Government minister with a reputation as a civil libertarian, came before the court charged with breaches of the street march legislation, as it was called. In response, he made an impassioned plea for the restoration of ‘our ancient liberties’. He even recounted details of his war service, fighting the totalitarianism of our enemies in the Second World War. He also recalled how he climbed the gangplank of a troop ship to set sail to fight for liberties that were now being eroded.

Unfortunately for Uren, the Chief Stipendiary Magistrate sitting that day was Jim Latchford, a decorated war hero who was nicknamed ‘the Colonel’. At the end of Uren’s speech, the Colonel pointed out that he too may have been on that same ship, that he had also fought such a fight, and the very fact that they were able to discuss each other’s point of view without resorting to warfare was proof enough that they had both won.