Book Description

Andrew Inglis Clark (1848-1907) was a remarkable Tasmanian. A lawyer, Attorney-General, judge and a 'father of federation', he was also a reformist politician and radical thinker. He read and travelled widely, and corresponded with prominent figures of like mind both within and beyond Australia. Clark produced the first draft of the Australian Constitution, in which he melded elements of the British and United States systems of government. Upon his framework our Constitution was made. Yet his considerable contribution to our federal system of government has largely been overlooked. Clark was perhaps the only founder of federation whose biography remained to be written. This book remedies that lacuna at a most appropriate time, in the centenary year of the federation of Australia.