THE Dorothea Mackellar Memorial Society welcomed a new patron at a special luncheon today, Margaret White.
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Mrs White was in Gunnedah ahead of the Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards presentation to be held at The Civic tomorrow from 10am.
The Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards capture the imagination of school students across Australia, inspiring them with a passion for poetry and a love of country.
This unique national project conducted by The Dorothea Mackellar Memorial Society gives Australia’s youth a voice and an opportunity to strive for literary excellence.
“I feel amazingly inspired being asked to be a patron of the society,” Mrs White said.
“I think it is a splendid way to encourage children to express their feelings. It is a safe haven to be able to write poetry, you can hide and say alot and the meaning may not be awefully apparent.
“I’d like to think all schools in Australia will participate in the awards in the future.”
Margaret White was born in Hamilton, Victoria and educated in Adelaide, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Adelaide in 1966.
She practised in the field of international law in Adelaide, the West Indies and Switzerland until she married Queenslander Michael White in 1970, a former RAN officer and submariner, who after many years as a barrister, is now an academic lawyer and author.
She taught in the Law School in the University of Queensland until 1982.
In that period of time the White’s three children were born and when the youngest was in preschool, Mrs White began full-time practice at the private bar with chambers in Brisbane.
In 1990, she was appointed Master of the Supreme Court in Queensland and in 1992 she was appointed as the first female Judge of the Supreme Court.
In 2010 she was appointed a permanent member of the Court of Appeal, retiring in 2013.
She was then appointed to conduct a six-month Commission of Inquiry for the Queensland Government into governance in the racing industry.
She was appointed an adjunct professor in the Law School at the University of Queensland in 2014 and lectures in civil procedure.
Mrs White was a member of the Senate of the University of Queensland from 1993 to 2009 and deputy chancellor between 2006 and 2009. She was a second officer in the WRANS from 1968 to 1973 and a commander in the RANSR from 2002 to 2010.
She was also the deputy president of the Defence Force Discipline Appeals Tribunal from 2008 to 2013.
She has had a long interest in the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, initially as a member of the Queensland Selection Committee, then chair and a director of the board, and since 2011, as chair of the Board of the Trust.
Mrs White is a foundation member of the Australian Academy of Law and was awarded Honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from the University of Queensland in 2005 and the University of Adelaide in 2013.
She was the recipient of a Centenary Medal in 2003 and appointed an Officer in the Order of Australia in 2013.
The luncheon was opened by Colleen McClintock of Newcastle, who recited the full version of Dorothea Mackellar’s famous poem My Country to the delighted guests.
