Sir Ronald Darling Wilson, AC, KBE, CMG, QC (23 August 1922 – 15 July 2005[3]) was a distinguished Australian lawyer, judge and social activist serving on the High Court of Australia between 1979 and 1989 and as the President of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission between 1990 and 1997.
Wilson is probably best known as the co-author with Mick Dodson of the 1997 Bringing Them Home report into the Stolen Generation which led to the creation of a National Sorry Day and a walk for reconciliation across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 2000 with an estimated 250,000–300,000 people participating.
Wilson was also one of three judges sitting on The WA Inc Royal Commission in the early 1990s which eventually led to former Premier Brian Burke being jailed in March 1997.
[4] In September 1941, following the outbreak of World War II, Wilson enlisted in the army reserve, which was known at the time as the Militia (service no.
He had a rapid rise in his legal career, becoming Crown Prosecutor for Western Australia in 1959, only eight years after starting work as a lawyer.
[9] Perth serial killer, Eric Edgar Cooke, confessed to both offences before he was hanged for other murders, but was not believed by authorities.
[4] Wilson adopted a federalist position on the court;[citation needed] and was frequently in the minority on issues relating to the scope of the Commonwealth's external affairs legislative power.
[4] In Koowarta v Bjelke-Petersen,[10] Wilson was in the minority in holding that the external affairs power in the Australian constitution applied only to relationships outside Australia.
In 1990 the Hawke Government appointed Wilson as the President of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, where he served until his retirement in 1997.
Wilson and Dodson visited every state in Australia over the 17-month duration of the Inquiry and heard testimony from 535 aboriginals with 600 more making submissions.
Wilson wrote after the completion of the report: "In chairing the National Inquiry (...) I had to relate to hundreds of stories of personal devastation, pain and loss.
The first National Sorry Day was held in 1998 and attracted widespread participation while, in 2000, an estimated 250,000[19][20]–300,000[21] people walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in support of reconciliation.
[24] The following year he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) for services as a Justice of the High Court of Australia.
[26] In addition, Wilson was awarded the Centenary Medal on 1 January 2001 for service as a Justice of the High Court of Australia and to human rights.