James Gobbo

Sir James Augustine Gobbo (born March 22, 1931 in Melbourne , Australia ) is an Australian lawyer and former governor of the state of Victoria .

Life

Gobbo is a son of Italian immigrants who emigrated to Australia in 1938. He studied at Xavier College and later law at the University of Melbourne . In 1951 he was accepted into the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship Program and graduated with a Masters from Oxford University .

After many years as a barrister was active, he was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria (1978 Supreme Court of Victoria appointed). He held the office until 1994. A year later, Gobbo was appointed lieutenant governor of Victoria. In 1997 he was finally appointed governor by Prime Minister Jeff Kennett . During his term of office there was a referendum in 1999, in which a vote was taken to convert Australia into a republic . If the proponents of the proposal had prevailed, Gobbo, like all other Australian governors, should have resigned; the proposal was ultimately rejected by a majority. In August 2000, the new Prime Minister Steve Bracks announced that Gobbo's successor, John Landy , would take office in January 2001. Gobbo, who would have wished for another term in office, expressed his deep disappointment with the decision.

In 2010 he published his memoir under the title Something to Declare: A Memoir .

Gobbo is married and has five children.

Awards

• Knight Bachelor (1981)
• Companion of the Order of Australia (1993)
• Knight of Grace of the Order of Saint John (1997)
• Knight of the Order of Malta