11 Facts About Reg Downing

Reg Downing was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council for the Labor Party for 31 years from 1940 to 1972 and served as the Attorney General, Minister for Justice and Vice-President of the Executive Council from 1941 to 1965.

Robert Reginald Downing was born in the New South Wales town of Tumut in 1904, the son of council worker Robert Downing and Frances Jean Galvin.

Reg Downing then proceeded to study law, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws in 1943 and being called to the New South Wales bar the same year.

At the encouragement of McKell, Reg Downing stood for preselection in the New South Wales Legislative Council and in 1940 was duly elected.

Reg Downing would go on to serve during the entire period of Labor government as vice-president of the Executive Council for 24 years and Minister of Justice for 19 years to 1956 when he was made Attorney General.

Reg Downing actively pursued the abolition of capital punishment in New South Wales, leading to its abolition for murder cases in 1955.

However, serving during a period of moral conservatism and malevolent homophobia, Reg Downing presided over an increase on official action against homosexuality in government and the NSW Police Force Vice Squad.

Reg Downing established a committee to study the men incarcerated there for the purpose of finding the "causes and treatments of homosexuality".

Thereafter, Reg Downing, who had previous served as the Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council, became the Leader of the New South Wales Opposition in the Legislative Council, a role in which he would serve until his retirement from politics.

Reg Downing retired from the legislative council after thirty-one years in February 1972 and returned to legal practice, being appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1973.

The owner of a 283-hectare sheep property outside Goulburn, Reg Downing lived there in quiet retirement until his death aged 89 on 9 September 1994.