DR PHILLIP GARTH LAW AC CBE, 21 April 1912–28 February 2010

Abstract

Phillip Garth Law c. 1996Source: photograph by Ian Toohill, reproduced with kind permission This redoubtable Australian polar explorer and recipient of the Royal Geographical Society's Founder's Medal (1960) died aged 97. Such was his stature, with no less than 28 expeditions to the Antarctic and its islands, he was frequently referred to as ‘Mr Antarctica’. Born in Tallangatta in rural northeast Victoria the year of Captain Scott's death, Law was educated in the Western District at Hamilton High School. He was an accomplished sportsman and thrived on many outdoor pursuits, including mountaineering. He went on to the University of Melbourne and Melbourne Teachers’ College, graduating with a BSc and MSc in 1939 and 1941 respectively. Law married the artist Nellie (Nel) Allan and joined the RAAF as a trainee Pilot Officer and Navigator in 1941. Later he was appointed to Australia's wartime Optical Munitions Panel and worked in New Guinea advising the Australian Army on perfecting the use of optical instruments under tropical conditions. His polar career began, somewhat unexpectedly, in 1947 whilst lecturing in physics. He was seconded as Senior Scientific Officer to the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE) voyaging in HMAS Wyatt Earp. The Department of External Affairs established the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) in 1948 which marked a major turning point in Australian polar affairs. Law was appointed Leader of ANARE and then Director of the AAD in 1949: the year in which he was elected a Fellow of the RGS. Within 10 years, Law had transformed Australia's Antarctic presence and capacity. He chartered the Danish ship Kista Dan and, in so doing, enabled Australia to establish a permanent foothold in Australian Antarctic Territory: a vast, unexplored region claimed by Australia in 1933. His determination ensured three permanent stations were established – Mawson (1954), Davis (1957) and Wilkes (renamed Casey after being handed over by the USA in 1959). Law's attention to detail distinguished him from his peers in many ways. His robust planning and preparation provided the capacity for Australia to initiate and maintain a comprehensive polar research programme. Training, selection, doctrine, policy, protocol, logistics, signals, victualling and more were developed and honed by Phil Law – often leading to vigorous federal government disagreement as he sought additional budgetary funding and support for his country's polar work. He was prepared to take risks. On one of his expeditions, his wife Nel accompanied him and she became the first Australian woman to set foot in Antarctica: this at a time when women were mostly, if not entirely absent. Her paintings remain a striking testimony of her brief time in that great ice-desert wilderness. Law was both a controversial and inspirational figure acknowledged by the likes of Sir Douglas Mawson, Captain John Davis and the Norwegian General, Riser-Larsen. However his name lives on, attached as it is to a number of features including islands, a shore establishment, a peninsula and Law Dome. He resigned as Director of the AAD in 1966 to embark on a second career until his retirement in 1977. This later work (as Vice President of the Victoria Institute of Colleges) served to develop and coordinate tertiary education in his home state of Victoria. He received many accolades, honours and awards during his long life. As stated earlier, he was awarded the Founder's Medal in 1960 (which his superiors prevented him from collecting in person) and honoured that same year by being appointed Patron to the British Schools Exploring Society. The following year Her Majesty recognised Law by creating him a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (Civil). He was awarded his Polar Medal in 1969 and made a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1995. Phillip Garth Law died peacefully on a Sunday afternoon in Melbourne just short of his 98th birthday. His much beloved wife Nel predeceased him. He is survived by his brother Peter and sister Wendy Suart.