The Honourable Justice Lloyd Stacy Waddy was the Foundation National Convenor of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy. As Kerry Jones observes in her book published in 2000 on the referendum , The People’s Protest, he brought humour, common sense and leadership to the position.
And as the Mosman Daily (17/1) reports, he has over the years worn many hats and touched many lives. On Australia Day, it was announced that in recognition of his service to the law, the constitutional debate, and to the community through a range of educational and arts organisations, he had been appointed a member of the Order of Australia. A Queen’s Counsel, he was made a judge in the Family Court of Australia in 1998. Now retired, he told the Mosman Daily that when he first sat as as a judge he was often moved to tears.
“Some of the stories are so tragic,” he said. “People never think the judge will be crying but if you don’t brush away the tears they don’t notice.” He recalled the poorest case was awarding $45,000 between three old-age pensioners who had less than $10,000 each. “It was a real privilege to help these people,” he said.
“I tried to make sure everybody felt they were being listened to.” He was appointed the chairman of the Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1992, which donated $1.5 million towards restoring and developing North Sydney’s Independent Theatre into one of Australia’s finest recital halls. “It doesn’t compete with the Opera House but the acoustics are outstanding – we’ve given away $1 million in scholarships to singers and conductors,” he said.
When asked by the newspaper to reflect on his life, Mr Waddy simply said: “I’m happy, full stop.”