We remember Sir David Iser Smith 1933 – 2022
Sir David Iser Smith KCVO, AO
Sir David was a Director of the Churchill Trust and ACT Selection Committee Chair from 1 January 1999 to 31 December 2013. Sir David was made a Life Member in 2014.
He served as Official Secretary to the Governor General of Australia from 1973 until 1990, serving Sir Paul Hasluck, Sir John Kerr, Sir Zelman Cowen, Sir Ninian Stephen and Bill Hayden. Sir David was attached to the Queen’s household at Buckingham Palace in 1975 and was knighted by the Queen at a private ceremony at Balmoral Castle in 1990 (KCVO) in recognition of his personal service to the Monarch.
On his retirement from Government House, Sir David was invited to join the Churchill Trust’s ACT Selection Committee by Professor Noel Dunbar. Sir David was Chair of the ACT Selection Committee and a Director of Trust’s Board from 1 January 1999 to 31 December 2013. Sir David left the Trust Board with some regret, as the Trust was like family to him, as he told Board members and guests at the 2014 Churchill Trust Board dinner, ‘and one of the most rewarding experiences in a life of many rewarding experiences.’
Remembering the life of Sir David Iser Smith
Sir David was born in 1933. David was born in Melbourne to Polish immigrant parents with the surname Szmitkowski which was later anglicised to Smith.
He was educated at the Princes Hill State School and then Scotch College in Melbourne and later graduated from the University of Melbourne and the Australian National University.
David had a successful and distinguished Public Service career spanning more than 37 years, culminating in his appointment as Official Secretary to five successive Governors-General from 1973 to 1990.
Sir David gained a Bachelor of Arts from the Australian National University and joined the Australian Public Service in 1953. His public service career began in Melbourne, and in 1957 he seized an opportunity to advance his career by moving Canberra.
He arrived in Canberra in 1957 with his wife, Lady June, and his two oldest children, Michael and Richard. Their third son, Phillip, was born in Canberra in 1959.
In 1958 David was appointed Honorary Secretary of the newly formed Jewish Community. He was elected Vice-President and was a member of the Building Committee. David also stood in for the Community President at the ceremony for the laying of the foundation stone for the National Jewish Memorial Centre in 1962, attended by Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies, where he delivered the speech on behalf of the Community. He continued to serve on the Board until the opening of the Centre in 1971
Appointed Private Secretary to the Minister for Interior and Works from 1958 to 1963, Sir David went on to become Secretary to the Federal Executive Council and head of the Government Branch of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet from 1971 to 1973.
Sir David was the inaugural Secretary of the Order of Australia after its establishment in 1975. After Sir Paul Hasluck retired, Sir David served Sir John Kerr and at the constitutional crisis of 1975, he read the proclamation of the dissolution of Parliament on the steps of old Parliament House in Canberra on 11 November of that year.
Sir David was attached to the Queen’s household at Buckingham Palace for several months in 1975 and, immediately before his retirement, was knighted by the Queen at a private ceremony at Balmoral Castle in 1990 (KCVO) in recognition of his personal service to the Monarch. He had previously been awarded a CVO in 1977, and an AO in 1986 and was also Knight Commander of the Order of St John of Jerusalem.
In 1977 he was made a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) for his continuing services as Official Secretary; in 1986 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for “service to the Crown, as Official Secretary to the Governor General and as Secretary of the Order of Australia”.
In 1990 he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) at a private investiture at Balmoral Castle; in 1991 he was appointed a Knight of Grace of the Order of St John of Jerusalem (KStJ); and in 2001 he was awarded the Centenary Medal for “services to Australian society through the Office of Governor General”. He was also awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal.
Sir David was appointed a life member of the Churchill Trust in 2014.
In addition to Sir David’s involvement with the Churchill Trust, he had an active involvement with the Scouting movement, the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, Alzheimers Australia, the Constitution Education Fund. He was an original member of the Samuel Griffiths Society and Australians for Constitutional Monarchy, a cause he loyally, vigorously and consistently supported throughout his life.
Sir David is survived by his wife June (Lady Smith), his three sons Michael, Richard and Phillip, loving daughters-in-law, seven grandsons, two step grandsons, two step granddaughters, two great grandsons with a third due, a great granddaughter and a step great granddaughter.
Sir David’s legacy is so much more than his service to Australia or the size of his extended family; it is the personal qualities of kindness, decency and integrity that he passed to all who had the privilege of knowing him and being part of his life.
Read Sir David’s Eulogy speech by Joe Shnieder OAM
