Book Review: Denis O’Brien’s ‘From the creek: a life in the law’

Denis with his wife, Jacinta

A history forgotten is a history lost and Canberra Catholic and lawyer Denis O’Brien’s recently released “From the Creek: A Life in the Law” has made an important contribution to preserving the past. 

A blend of memoir and history, “From the Creek” chronicles Mr O’Brien’s journey from rural Victoria to a career in law with the Australian Public Service in Canberra and later into private practice with Minter Ellison and beyond.

Centre stage in Chapter 1 is his time, remarkably, in Fiji, where his background in Commonwealth legislation and constitutional work saw him playing an important role in helping to draft that country’s new constitution in 1997 following the coup a decade earlier.

The author shares fascinating anecdotes about this period, not least his involvement with key figures in Fijian politics, such as the then Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, who first greeted him with a “firm handshake and warm words of welcome.”

It’s also in Fiji, where Mr O’Brien, the legal eagle, shows his ability to see the funny side of things.

There’s the occasion, for example, when he gathered with Fijian colleagues to pay their respects at the home of Alipate Qetaki, a Fijian jurist whose father had recently passed away. 

The author relates how he sat cross-legged and barefoot around the traditional “grog,” yaqona or kava, “…and left the house after the ceremony with my mouth slightly anaesthetised…and with a happier outlook on life than when I first arrived.”

For Mr O’Brien, that outlook on life had its genesis at Swift’s Creek in eastern Victoria, where he went through the rites of passage for a country Catholic boy: First Communion, followed by Confirmation and the almost obligatory service to the church as an altar boy.

From the altar to the area’s shearing sheds—where he worked during the school holidays—there are beautiful, evocative passages that show the author’s gift for description and humour. 

Other gifts were evident in his education. He was the college captain and dux at his Catholic boarding school at Sunbury and also discovered an ability at distance running, which he carried through to the local running community when he moved to Canberra. 

Marriage followed in the national capital, and the legal work included stints heading Australia’s Refugee Review Tribunal and Migration Review Tribunal and service as the chief lawyer for the Truth, Justice, and Healing Council.

This leads to his final chapter, where he discusses Australia’s Constitution. Mr O’Brien was a strong advocate for the yes side of last year’s failed voice referendum and wants to see Australia become a republic.

Not only a happy portrait but a reflective one, “From the Creek” is recommended reading. 

Family, faith, and politics are all provided as food for thought, touching on some of the fundamental issues of our nation and one of our closest Pacific neighbours. 

“From the Creek: A Life in the Law” by Denis O’Brien with a foreword by The Hon Kevin Andrews is available at https://alifeinthelaw.com.au/