McGarvie joined the Australian Labor Party in 1949 and took a leading role in the dismissal of its Victorian socialist-left dominated Central Executive by bringing about federal intervention.
Legal career
McGarvie studied law at the University of Melbourne and graduated in 1950, winning the Supreme Court Prize for the top honours student of the year. Joining the Victorian Bar in 1952, he became Queen's Counsel, chair of the Victorian Bar Council (1973–1975), Treasurer of Law Council of Australia (1974–1976), and Chancellor of La Trobe University (1981–1992).[1]
McGarvie was appointed to the Supreme Court of Victoria on 1 June 1976, resigning all political affiliations, and served as a judge until 22 April 1992. He was appointed Governor of Victoria from 1992 to 1997.
Constitutional influence
Author of the McGarvie Model, McGarvie was an appointed delegate to Constitutional Convention on an Australian republic in February 1998,[2] and initiated the 2001 Corowa conference to find common ground among republicans after the referendum defeat in 1999. He took the unusual position of making contributions to republicanism, without directly supporting the broader republican movement. He promoted his own model and at the 1998 convention argued the provision for two-thirds parliamentary dismissal of a president was unworkable.
