Editing John Latham (judge) (section)

{{Short description|Australian politician and judge (1877–1964)}}
{{other people||John Latham (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name                = Sir John Latham
| honorific-suffix    = [[Order of St Michael and St George|GCMG]] [[Privy Councilor|PC]] [[Queen's Counsel|QC]]
| nationality         = Australian
| image               = John Latham 1931.jpg
| caption             = Latham in 1931
| order               = 
| office              = [[Chief Justice of Australia]]
| term_start          = 11 October 1935
| term_end            = 7 April 1952
| appointer           = [[Sir Isaac Isaacs]]
| nominator           = [[Joseph Lyons]]
| predecessor         = [[Sir Frank Gavan Duffy]]
| successor           = [[Sir Owen Dixon]]
| office2             = [[Attorney-General of Australia]]
| primeminister2      = [[Joseph Lyons]]
| term_start2         = 6 January 1932
| term_end2           = 12 October 1934
| predecessor2        = [[Frank Brennan (politician)|Frank Brennan]]
| successor2          = [[Robert Menzies]]
| office3             = [[Minister for Foreign Affairs (Australia)|Minister for External Affairs]]
| primeminister3      = [[Joseph Lyons]]
| term_start3         = 6 January 1932
| term_end3           = 12 October 1934
| predecessor3        = [[James Scullin]]
| successor3          = Sir [[George Pearce]]
| office4             = [[Department of Industry (1928–40)|Minister for Industry]]
| primeminister4      = [[Joseph Lyons]]
| term_start4         = 6 January 1932
| term_end4           = 12 October 1934
| predecessor4        = [[James Scullin]]
| successor4          = [[Robert Menzies]]
| office5             = [[Leader of the Opposition (Australia)|Leader of the Opposition]]
| deputy5             = [[Henry Gullett]]
| term_start5         = 22 October 1929
| term_end5           = 7 May 1931
| primeminister5      = [[James Scullin]]
| predecessor5        = [[James Scullin]]
| successor5          = [[Joseph Lyons]]
| office6             = Leader of the [[Nationalist Party (Australia)|Nationalist Party]]
| deputy6             = [[Henry Gullett]]
| term_start6         = 22 October 1929
| term_end6           = 7 May 1931
| predecessor6        = [[Stanley Bruce]]
| successor6          = ''Party dissolved''
| office7             = [[United Australia Party|Deputy Leader of the United Australia Party]]
| leader7             = [[Joseph Lyons]]
| term_start7         = 7 May 1931
| term_end7           = 15 September 1934
| predecessor7        = ''party established''
| successor7          = [[Robert Menzies]]
| office8             = [[Department of Industry (1928–40)|Minister for Industry]]
| primeminister8      = [[Stanley Bruce]]
| term_start8         = 10 December 1928
| term_end8           = 22 October 1929
| predecessor8        = ''New title''
| successor8          = [[James Scullin]]
| office9             = [[Attorney-General of Australia]]
| primeminister9      = [[Stanley Bruce]]
| term_start9         = 18 December 1925
| term_end9           = 22 October 1929
| predecessor9        = [[Littleton Groom]]
| successor9          = [[Frank Brennan (politician)|Frank Brennan]]
| parliament10        = Australian
| constituency_MP10   = [[Division of Kooyong|Kooyong]]
| term_start10        = 16 December 1922
| term_end10          = 7 August 1934
| predecessor10       = [[Robert Best (Australian politician)|Robert Best]]
| successor10         = [[Robert Menzies]]
| birth_name          = John Greig Latham
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1877|8|26|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Ascot Vale, Victoria]], Australia
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1964|7|25|1877|8|26|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Richmond, Victoria]], Australia
| party               = [[Liberal Party (1922)|Liberal Union]] (1921–1925) <br />[[Nationalist Party (Australia)|Nationalist]] (1925–1931) <br /> [[United Australia Party|United Australia]] (1931–1934)
| education           = [[Scotch College, Melbourne|Scotch College]]
| alma_mater          = [[University of Melbourne]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Ella Latham|Ella Tobin]]|1907}}
}}

'''Sir John Greig Latham''' {{small|[[Order of St Michael and St George|GCMG]] [[Privy Councilor|PC]] [[Queen's Counsel|QC]]}} (26 August 1877 – 25 July 1964) was an Australian lawyer, politician, and judge who served as the fifth [[Chief Justice of Australia]], in office from 1935 to 1952. He had earlier served as [[Attorney-General of Australia]] under [[Stanley Bruce]] and [[Joseph Lyons]], and was [[Leader of the Opposition (Australia)|Leader of the Opposition]] from 1929 to 1931 as the final leader of the [[Nationalist Party of Australia|Nationalist Party]].

Latham was born in [[Melbourne]]. He studied arts and law at the [[University of Melbourne]], and was [[Call to the bar|called to the bar]] in 1904. He soon became one of [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]]'s best known barristers. In 1917, Latham joined the [[Royal Australian Navy]] as the head of its intelligence division. He served on the Australian delegation to the [[1919 Paris Peace Conference]], where he came into conflict with Prime Minister [[Billy Hughes]]. At the [[1922 Australian federal election|1922 federal election]], Latham was elected to parliament as an independent on an anti-Hughes platform. He got on better with Hughes' successor Stanley Bruce, and formally joined the Nationalist Party in 1925, subsequently winning promotion to cabinet as Attorney-General. He was also [[Minister for Industry (Australia)|Minister for Industry]] from 1928, and was one of the architects of the unpopular industrial relations policy that contributed to the government's defeat at the [[1929 Australian federal election|1929 election]]. Bruce lost his seat, and Latham was reluctantly persuaded to become Leader of the Opposition.

In 1931, Latham led the Nationalists into the new [[United Australia Party]], joining with Joseph Lyons and other disaffected [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]] MPs. Despite the Nationalists forming a larger proportion of the new party, he relinquished the leadership to Lyons, a better campaigner, thus becoming the first opposition leader to fail to contest a general election. In the [[Lyons government]], Latham was the ''de facto'' [[Deputy Prime Minister of Australia|deputy prime minister]], serving both as Attorney-General and [[Minister for Foreign Affairs (Australia)|Minister for External Affairs]]. He retired from politics in 1934, and the following year was appointed to the [[High Court of Australia|High Court]] as Chief Justice. From 1940 to 1941, Latham took a leave of absence from the court to become the inaugural [[Australian Ambassador to Japan]]. He left office in 1952 after almost 17 years as Chief Justice; only [[Garfield Barwick]] has served for longer.