Career

While working at the law firm, Court decided he wanted to become a lawyer, but found that he could not afford the five years as an articled clerk. He was instead articled to one of the law firm's auditors, J F Burkett and Co, later Burkett and McLaren. Court soon became a junior audit clerk, and then began studying an accountancy correspondence course at a technical school.^[20] During the Great Depression, Burkett and McLaren saw many bankruptcies, particularly from farmers and storekeepers. This influenced Court's political beliefs and pushed him to the conservative side of politics. Court turned 21 in 1932, so the first election he voted in was the state election in April 1933.^[21] The 1933 Western Australian secession referendum was held at the same time as the state election. Court voted in favour of secession. Although he would later become opposed to secession, Court throughout his life strongly opposed centralism.^[22]

Court passed his final exams for the Institute of Chartered Accountants in March 1933 and the Chartered Institute of Secretaries the following year.^[21] He then became a senior clerk, earning three pounds per week. He felt he was underpaid by a pound though, so after negotiations failed, he quit, believing he could earn as much playing the trumpet and start his own accountancy firm meanwhile.^[23] Jack Burkett, the son of one of the founders of Burkett and McLaren, joined Court's firm, and so it became Burkett and Court: Public Accountants. They established an office on St Georges Terrace, and borrowed furniture from his parents' home, unable to afford furniture themselves.^[23] One of Walter Court's acquaintances, a furniture businessowner, Harry Hearn, heard of the situation, and loaned them proper furniture interest free, confident that the son of Walter Court would be able to pay his debts.^[23] Over time, Burkett and Court became profitable and hired new staff,^[24] and after two years, was able to pay back Hearn.^[23] It was around this time that Court developed a negative opinion of trade unions, which he believed to be intolerant of his clients such as bank managers and creditors.^[25]

Court soon met his future wife Rita Steffanoni as he was asked by a family friend to play music at her 21st birthday party. They then met at several other events before they became partners.^[26] They became engaged in January 1935 and bought a house in Nedlands. Somewhat uncommon, the title for the house was in her name rather than Court's, as he felt his financial situation was precarious^[27] They married on 3 June 1936 at St Alban's Anglican Church in Highgate.^[28] Their first son, Victor Charles, was born on 13 February 1938, followed by Barrymore (Barry) Michael on 23 March 1941, Kenneth Walter on 11 December 1943, Richard Fairfax on 27 September 1947, and Geoffrey William on 30 May 1949.^[29]

Jack Burkett left the firm in 1937, leading to it becoming C W Court, Chartered Accountant. The business continued to expand and moved to a larger office, although Court himself still partially relied on playing music for his income. Later that year, Court was approached by two other accountants to join them in partnership.^[30] He agreed, and so Hendry Rae & Court was born, operating out of Newspaper House on St Georges Terrace. Court joined the Australian Army in 1940 and returned to accounting in January 1946. Later that year, Rae retired, and Hendry retired several years after that.^[31] In 1944, Court was made a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants; from 1946 to 1952, he was the institute's state registrar; from 1952 to 1955, he was on the state council; became a life member in 1982; and was voted chartered accountant of the year in 1984.^[32] In addition to his work with the firm, Court became a director for several companies. This was reduced when he became a member of parliament in 1953. He continued working at Hendry Rae & Court until he became a minister in 1959, and completely left the firm in 1970. Court was also elected by ratepayers to be the auditor for the Municipality of Claremont and was the chairman of the WA Prices Advisory Committee from 1948 to 1952. He was chosen for that role as he had performed well for the Master Bakers' Association before the war. The committee had the role of advising the government on the deregulation of price controls following the war.^[33]

In the Australian Army

Court volunteered to join the Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in January 1940, but was rejected due to manpower restrictions as he was an accountant. He then got written consent from Hendry, Rae, and some clients, and enlisted in the Australian Military Force (AMF). He was allowed to join the AMF as its members did not serve outside Australia, but its members were allowed to join the AIF after three months. Not wanting to end up in an army band, Court asked to join an AMF corps without one, which meant he enrolled in the Army Service Corps as a private on 5 September 1940. In his first few months in the army, Court was occasionally released to work at Hendry Rae & Court as part of the manpower restrictions. Court was quickly promoted, having been a lance corporal, corporal, sergeant, and lieutenant "on probation" by 5 November. He was promoted to a permanent lieutenant in July 1941. Court's commanding officer, Major Ennis, soon told him to form and lead a band, but not wanting to be involved with a band, Court struck a deal that he would form a really good band before being allowed to leave it to concentrate on being a soldier. Court recruited experienced musicians who were about to join the army and people who he had played with in previous bands.^[34]

By January 1942, Court had successfully applied to transfer to the AIF and became a lieutenant in the 1st Armoured Division in Victoria.^[34] Court was soon promoted to captain. His commanding officer, Horace Robertson, asked that Court form a band, but Court managed to reach another deal where he would form the best band in the Australian Army before returning to being a soldier. Court went to a staff course at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, and the division was transferred to Mingenew, Western Australia. After the division's band won a competition against other service bands in Geraldton, Court returned to being a soldier.^[35] He was promoted to temporary major in August 1943 when he was made deputy assistant quartermaster-general, and later became a permanent major. He then moved to the Northern Territory in October 1943, with efforts to prepare for a possible Japanese invasion in the wake of the bombing of Darwin.^[36] In the Northern Territory, Court was injured twice during training. With no combat on the horizon, it was difficult to keep troops motivated. There were more air raids on Darwin in November 1943.^[37]

Court was asked to assess whether the region could cope with large numbers of US and Australian troops if General Douglas MacArthur chose to launch an invasion from Darwin to win back the Philippines. Court determined that it could, and the report was presented to an audience including General Thomas Blamey. Court's commanding officer, Arthur Allen, praised the report but Blamey said launching from the Northern Territory would be the worst option as it would be slow and cost many lives and much money. A report about Court's service in the Northern Territory said that "throughout his service with Northern Territory Force, Major Court has displayed devotion to duty of the highest order" and that Court "has been outstanding in every respect".^[37] In November 1944, Court was sent to the staff college in Cabarlah, Queensland, for more training.

On 3 April 1945, Court was sent to Bougainville Island in the territory of New Guinea, where Australian troops had taken over from American troops. By then, he was a lieutenant colonel and assistant quartermaster-general with the II Corps. Court got off to a rocky start as his commanding officer, Stanley Savige, initially did not like him. Savige did not trust Horace Robertson, so when Robertson told Savige that Court was "a first-class and outstanding officer", Savige believed the opposite. Savige told Court that unless he changed his mind in four weeks, Court would be transferred. General Allen wrote to Savige that Court would do well, which helped to peruade Savige to let Court stay. At the end of the four weeks, Savige told Court he could stay.^[38] Court's role in Bougainville was to manage the supply of ammunition, communication devices and medical supplies to troops in the jungle of Bougainville and nearby islands. Court went on some of the supply drops himself so that he "let the RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) and Army crews know I was interested in their work and conscious of the danger and responsibility that was theirs when undertaking these missions". Court would also carry messages from Savige to commanders on the battlefront.^[39] Court was also tasked with leading a team to sever Japanese communications between the north and south of the island, but that mission was called off when intelligence officers determined the mission could not go ahead.^[40]

Court was a member of the Australian Surrender Commission when the Japanese formally surrendered at Bougainville on 8 September 1945. After the other staff officers left, Court became the senior Australian officer in charge. Court chose 70 soldiers and intelligence personnel to disarm the 23,500 Japanese soldiers and sailors.^[40] Masatane Kanda and Court were concerned that "fanatics" might try to shoot at the Australians, but no such thing happened.^[41] After that was complete, Court left for Torokina,^[42] where there were 30,000 Australian soldiers waiting to go home.^[43] Due to his service, Court was awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1945.^[44][45] Court later said the OBE meant more to him than any other honour he had received as it had proved he had succeeded as a soldier. Court arrived back in Perth in December 1945 and was demobilised on 3 January, becoming a reserve officer.^[46]

Tresillian controversy

In 1974, under the Tonkin government, the Tresillian, a former maternity hospital in Court's seat of Nedlands, was converted to a home for mentally ill children without consultation with the residents or Nedlands council. Protests and objections soon began to occur, with the council saying the area was unsuitable for the centre. Groups in support of the Tresillian centre appeared as well. Court believed that Nedlands was unsuitable for the Tresillian centre, and had the Health Department sell the land to the City of Nedlands in anticipation of moving the centre to Forrestfield, a location that was criticised by parents for being too far away from the city. The Trades and Labour Council blocked the move, and so Court issued an ultimatum that any staff who prevented children moving to the site at Forrestfield would be sacked and the children returned to their homes. Five Liberal MPs and a Nation Country MP criticised the decision, and Ray Young resigned as cabinet secretary on 20 July 1976. That day, Court changed his mind, allowing patients at Tresillian to stay until December 1977.^[80]

Arts and culture

The Court government purchased His Majesty's Theatre from the private landowner, Norman Rydge. The first attempt to purchase the theatre in 1976 fell through when the government could not agree on a price with Rydge. The minister for cultural affairs, Graham MacKinnon, then announced plans for the government to build its own theatre complex, costing up to $14 million and including three individual theatres. After Court's insistence, the sale was back on three days later.^[81] From 1977 to 1980, the theatre was restored.^[82]

As part of celebrations of the 150th anniversary of Western Australia, the new building for the Art Gallery of Western Australia was opened by Charles Court in 1979.^[83][84]

Police Act

In an attempt to stop protests and strikes, the Court government amended Section 54B of the Police Act in November 1976 so that a permit from the police commissioner was required for a gathering of more than three people in a public place. The amendment said that "reasonable grounds" were required for refusal but that there was no right to an appeal.^[85] Section 54B was amended in September 1979 after a spate of arrests due to it. It was changed so that any assembly was lawful until it was prohibited, and public meetings and places were more clearly defined. The Labor Party criticised the bill, saying the amendments did not go far enough and Labor Leader Ron Davies unsuccessfully sought to delete Section 54B entirely. It was eventually deleted in 1984 after Labor gained power.^[86]

Oil and natural gas

One of Court's focuses was the creation of a major source of energy for Western Australia. He believed that cheap energy was needed to overcome Australia's high labour costs so that processing, particularly the refining of steel, would be economical. In 1964, WAPET discovered a small amount of oil had at Barrow Island and a small amount of natural gas near Dongara. When the minister for energy, Crawford Nalder, failed in negotiating with WAPET on behalf of the State Electricity Commission, Court took over and came to an agreement with WAPET.^[87] Alcoa Australia also reached an agreement with WAPET to supply gas to alumina refineries in Kwinana Beach and Pinjarra, and Midland Brick reached an agreement as well, and so the Parmelia Pipeline between Dongara and Pinjarra via Perth opened in 1971.^[88]

In May 1963, Woodside (Lakes Entrance) Oil (now known as Woodside Energy) was granted an exploration lease covering over 160,000 square kilometres (62,000 sq mi) of the North West Shelf off the Pilbara coast. Woodside was joined by Shell and Burmah Oil in 1964, and by California Asiatic Oil (now Chevron) and British Petroleum in 1966, forming the joint venture partners of the North West Shelf Venture.^[89] Court maintained a close relationship with the joint venture partners.^[90] The first well drilled in 1967 was dry, and by the start of 1971, little oil or gas had been discovered. Court pushed for greater exploration though, and by the end of 1971, large gas reserves were discovered at North Rankin, 130 kilometres (81 mi) north of the Pilbara coast and 3,500 metres (11,500 ft) under the seabed. By that point, Labor had won the 1971 state election,^[89] and the party soon won the 1972 federal election as well. The Whitlam government's minister for minerals and energy, Rex Connor, was opposed to foreign investment in resource extraction, and wanted the distribution of natural gas to be nationalised.^[91] In light of this, the North West Shelf Venture was mothballed in 1973. However, after the Liberals won the 1974 state election and amid rising gas prices, the project was reopened in 1974.^[92]

Court met with Whitlam and Connor several times in an attempt to convince them to hand back control of the offshore reserves to the state, but they did not budge from their position.^[93] Connor threatened to withhold from renewing the North West Shelf exploration permits, but state attorney-general Ian Medcalf and minister for industrial development Andrew Mensaros concluded that the state could legally renew the permits anyway. The joint venture participants were not convinced, so Court travelled to London and California to meet with the heads of the companies involved. He managed to convince them to sign the permits,^[94] and by the end of the year, the Whitlam government was dismissed and the Liberal Party had won the resulting election.^[95] Court managed to get the federal government to agree for most royalties to go to the state in exchange for the state funding and constructing the Dampier to Bunbury Gas Pipeline.^[96]

BHP bought out Burmah Oil's share in 1976 when Burmah Oil ran into financial difficulties,^[95] and in 1979, Mitsubishi Corporation and Mitsui & Co. joined the project.^[97] In November 1979, cabinet approved the terms of an agreement to allow the North West Shelf Venture to go ahead, and in September 1980, Woodside announced the joint venture partners had agreed and that the project would go ahead.^[98] The State Energy Commission came to an agreement to receive 20 years of gas under a take-or-pay contract. This contract was controversial, with many people sceptical over whether the State Energy Commission would require that much gas.^[99] The first domestic gas was delivered in August 1984.^[100] The joint venture partners had trouble coming to an agreement with the Japanese power companies they intended to export liquified natural gas (LNG) to. Court attempted to hurry along an agreement, including travelling to Japan in December 1981, but it was not until May 1985, several years after Court resigned, that the eight Japanese companies signed contracts for the supply of LNG.^[101]

Views on Aboriginal people and the Noonkanbah dispute

Court believed that Aboriginal Australians should assimilate into the dominant Australian culture, similar to the assimilation of migrants from European countries into Australian culture. He believed that education should be compulsory for Aboriginal children, and he regretted it when the Brand government's plans to implement compulsory education did not succeed.^[102] Court believed that access to alcohol by Aboriginal people should be restricted by providing vouchers to Aboriginal people to by food, clothing and shelter. He attempted to persuade Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser of this idea, but the idea was rejected as the United Nations would not have approved.^[103] In the 1960s, Court believed mining companies should train Aboriginal people to replace the lost jobs in the pastoral industry. This never occurred though, due to what Court said were "stupid bureaucrats" who stopped him.^[104]

The Noonkanbah dispute was one of the most controversial aspects of Court's premiership and became a cause célèbre for Aboriginal land rights.^[105] Court was strongly opposed to Aboriginal land rights, as he believed the same laws should apply to all Australians, that land rights would in effect create "separate countries", and that Aboriginal people would be manipulated for political reasons.^[102] In 1976, the commonwealth government's Aboriginal Land Fund Commission bought Noonkanbah Station,^[104][105] a property of slightly less than 400,000 hectares (990,000 acres),^[105] for the Yungngora Aboriginal community, granting a pastoral lease to the Noonkanbah Pastoral Company. Over the following years, hundreds of resource tenements were pegged, including by American company Amax Petroleum, who was exploring for oil. Concerns for sacred sites at Noonkanbah soon became apparent, with several sites damaged during exploration by Amax. The Aboriginal Legal Service told Amax in April 1979 that the Yungngora community opposed all exploration and mining on Noonkanbah,^[104][105] and in May 1979, the Yungngora community presented a petition to Opposition Leader Ron Davies calling for miners to be kept out.^[106]

After Amax stated its intention to begin drilling near Pea Hill, a sacred site, the Aboriginal Legal Service accused Amax of being in breach of the Aboriginal Heritage Act. The Act made it an offence to "knowingly alter or damage an Aboriginal site or object on or under an Aboriginal site". The Crown Solicitor agreed with the Aboriginal Legal Service, however Court disagreed, saying that "we will have all sorts of 'sacred sites' coming up every time we want to move in these areas". He also believed that it was urgent to get onshore drilling started. A meeting at Noonkanbah station between the Mines Department, the Aboriginal Affairs Department, the Western Australian Museum and the newly-formed Kimberley Land Council came to an agreement that the site was sacred and that no drilling should occur until the Museum completed an investigation.^[107]

In mid-1979, Peter Bindon, an anthropologist and archaeologist working for the museum conducted an investigation of the Pea Hill site. He concluded that the "whole area within which any drill hole could be located by the company falls under the influence of the special sites shown to me by the Aborigines of the clan descent group for that area."^[105] The phrase "area of influence" was controversial, and Court used this to argue that this line of reasoning could prevent resource exploration anywhere in Western Australia. Court declared that "no responsible government could accept" this.^[108] He also questioned the Noonkanbah community's ties to the land.^[109] The minister for cultural affairs, Peter Jones, instructed the museum's trustees to allow drilling on Noonkanbah station anyway.^[110] In June 1979, upon arriving at Noonkanbah station, Amax and the Mines Department found that the Yungngora community had locked the gates and there were 40 people blocking access as well.^[105][110] Days later, the Aboriginal Legal Service obtained an interim injunction from the Supreme Court of Western Australia barring drilling from going ahead. Amax successfully fought to have the injunction lifted, but by then, the wet season had arrived an drilling was not possible until 1980.^[105]

In July 1980, surveyors for Amax tried to enter Noonkanbah station, but were stopped by residents. The government took control of the road entering the station and 4 hectares (9.9 acres) of land under its control to allow Amax to enter. After union bans prevented a water drilling rig from being transported to the site, the Mines Department transported its own water drilling rig to the site instead. To transport a petroleum drilling rig from Perth to Noonkanbah, a 2,240-kilometre (1,390 mi) journey, the government provided a police escort to prevent protests from blocking the drilling rig. The convoy left Perth on 7 August. Eight union officials who were protesting were arrested along the way. North of Port Hedland, approximately 160 Aboriginal people blockaded a bridge.^[108] Near Noonkanbah, the Yungngora people had parked vehicles across the road and chained them together. The convoy arrived at the site on 13 August. The media universally condemned the situation.^[111]

The exploration ended with no oil being found.^[112] Court for the rest of his life maintained that he would not have done anything different regarding the Noonkanbah dispute.^[113] Despite Court's claim that the Yungngora people did not have genuine ties to the area, in April 2007, the Yungngora people were granted native title over 1,811 square kilometres (699 sq mi) of land, including Noonkanbah station.^[114]

Fremantle line closure

During his time as the minister for railways in the 1960s, Court was supportive of Perth's suburban passenger railways over road transport, despite advice coming in that the suburban railways should be closed to passenger transport.^[115] In the 1977 state election, Court promised to upgrade the suburban railways. In January 1979 though, Court announced plans to close the Fremantle railway line and replace it with buses. Freight was to be diverted via the Kwinana to Woodbridge railway. The decision to close the Fremantle line was highly controversial. It was claimed the decision was made without consultation with Liberal MPs. Tom Dadour, the Liberal member for Subiaco, was outspoken against the decision. A petition with c. 100,000 signatures^{[lower-alpha 1]} was presented to parliament urging the government to reconsider. Court defended the decision by saying the buses would be more frequent, more flexible, more comfortable, and cheaper to run.^[118]

The Fremantle line closed to passenger traffic on 2 September 1979;^[117] freight traffic continued until the southern route was possible for narrow gauge trains. Unions placed a ban on contractors dismantling the railway.^[117] The line was reopened after the 1983 state election on 29 July 1983 by the Burke government. Court said later that "I never regretted what we did, but I realise it brought a lot of pain with it from a political point of view because it's so easy to stir up the emotions. Most of the people that signed the petition had probably never been on the train".^[119]

1980 state election

Court had hoped that Des O'Neil would succeed him as premier, however after a period as acting premier, O'Neil decided against ever becoming premier.^[120] Court tried to convince him otherwise, but O'Neil retired at the February 1980 state election.^[121] Court announced the date of that election only a day before the rolls closed, stopping people from being able to enrol via post, which mainly impacted people living in rural areas, and in particular, Aboriginal voters. The election campaign ran for over six weeks. Court promoted the North West Shelf Project, the Wagerup and Worsley alumina projects, and the potential for mining uranium and diamonds. Opponents campaigned on environmental issues and industrial disputes.^[122]

The election resulted in the Liberal Party losing one seat to Labor: Ernie Bridge defeated Alan Ridge to win the electoral district of Kimberley.^[122] Three seats also changed hands from the National Country Party to the National Party.

The Liberal Party caucus selected Ray O'Connor as deputy leader, to the disappointment of Court, who thought O'Connor only won by "lobbying and ingratiating himself to members". Court believed O'Connor was not able to handle portfolios with large budgets, but thought he did "reasonably well with railways" and thought that his personality would help him deal with people.^[123] The vacancies in the ministry caused by the departures of Alan Ridge, Des O'Neil and Graham MacKinnon were filled by Gordon Masters, Bill Hassell and Bill Grayden. The ministry was expanded by two with the addition of two honorary ministers: Ian Laurance and Barry MacKinnon. Court's one major error when allocating portfolios was taking industrial development from Andrew Mensaros and giving it to National Country MP Peter Jones as Mensaros was retiring soon and Court wanted to ensure someone else understood the portfolio. Mensaros took this as a demotion and some Liberal MPs were concerned with giving such an important portfolio to a National Country member. Jones nonetheless performed well in the portfolio.^[123]

Retirement

Court wanted to retire from politics before turning 70, but he chose to delay his retirement to try and resolve the issues with commonwealth-state finances.^[124] By the end of 1981 though, having recently turned 70 years old, Court had decided to retire in January 1982. His wife had wanted him to retire, and by that point, there was a minority of Liberal MPs who wanted to replace Court as leader as they considered him too old.^[125] These MPs knew they would not be able to defeat Court in a leadership spill, so they aimed to cause instability in the party to change public opinion.^[124] Court announced his retirement on 18 December 1981.^[126] The Liberal Party elected Ray O'Connor to succeed him and Cyril Rushton as deputy.^[127] Court officially resigned as premier and as a member of parliament on 25 January 1982.^[128] He was succeeded as the member for Nedlands by his son Richard Court,^[129] who later served as premier from February 1993 to February 2001.^[130]

The Liberal Party lost the 1983 state election. Court believed he could have won it, and regretted retiring before it.^[131] Ian Thompson, a Liberal MP, criticised Court in 1991, saying that he did not allow "people to grow under his leadership" and that he created "a vacuum behind him".^[132] Court said that his failure to develop a successor was his worst political mistake, blaming it on the assumption that Des O'Neil would succeed him.^[133] He said the role of premier was "beyond O'Connor's ability and integrity".^[134]

Bibliography

• Black, David (2021). The Western Australian Parliamentary Handbook (PDF) (25th ed.). Parliament of Western Australia. ISBN 978-1-925580-43-3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 March 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
• Jamieson, Ronda (2010). Charles Court: I love this place. St George Books. ISBN 978-0-86778-293-6.
• Kennedy, Peter (2014). Tales from Boom Town: Western Australian premiers from Brand to Barnett. UWA Publishing. pp. 60–83. ISBN 978-1-74258-533-8 – via Archive.org.
• Reid, G. S.; Oliver, M. R. (1982). The Premiers of Western Australia, 1890–1982. University of Western Australia Press. ISBN 978-0-85564-214-3.