Premier Tom Playford damaged by handling of Rupert Max Stuart royal commission in South Australia in 1959
The Rupert Max Stuart case sparked royal commission in 1959 that further damaged premier Tom Playford.
The Rupert Max Stuart murder case contributed to the fall of the premier Tom Playford’s long-standing South Australian government in 1965. Stuart's execution was set for July 7 1959. Of letters to The Advertiser, 75% of writers favoured the sentence being commuted and petitions with thousands of signatures backed this. (The Advertiser, under chairman and managing director LLoyd Dumas, give its usual editorial support for Playford.)
On the morning before, the first petition supporting the execution arrived by telegram with 334 signatures from Ceduna, Thevenard and districts. Playford’s executive council considered the petitions for 20 minutes before issuing a statement: “The prisoner is left for execution in the due course of the law. No recommendation is made for pardon or reprieve.” Stuart was told of the decision and given a cigarette.
But Playford’s failure to curb discredited statements about Stuart’s English speaking ability by police association president Paul Turner, who was involved in the case, prompted the law society of South Australia’s appeal to the privy council in London, putting a stay on the execution.
Playford’s next move amid the growing controversy was to appoint a royal commission. Including chief justice Mellis Napier and justice Geoffrey Reed, both involved in the trial and appeals, as commissioners sparked a worldwide uproar, including bias claims from the president of Indian Bar Council, the UK Liberal Party leader Jo Grimond and former British prime minister Clement Atlee.
A clash between Mellis Napier and Jack Wentworth QC, over questioning of a detective, added to the front-page headlines from the commission. Of the 11 witnesses before the commission, only three, including the taxi driver, had testified in the original trial.
South Australian Labor Party MP Don Dunstan’s questions in parliament played a major role in Playford's decision to commute Stuart's sentence to life imprisonment, two months before the commission's findings were handed down, upholding the death sentence.
Playford gave no reason for his decision but his daughter, Dr Margaret Fereday, recalled arguing with him on the issue, calling him a murderer.
After 11 years in jail and decades of parole, Stuart went on to lead a second life as a respected tribal Arrernte man, welcoming the Queen Elizabeth II to Alice Springs on at least one occasion.
