Peter Jopling, AM, KC, holds a distinct aversion to the label “art collector.” During a recent lunch at Di Stasio Citta, a renowned establishment at the upper end of Melbourne’s CBD, Jopling expressed his strong disapproval of the term. “I hate the concept of a collector,” he stated, his nose wrinkling in evident distaste. His personal journey with art began at the tender age of 17, when he purchased his first painting with a gift from his grandmother specifically intended for such a purchase. This initial acquisition, a small Fred Williams piece, remains with him to this day.
While Jopling carved out a distinguished career as one of the Victorian Bar’s leading commercial silks, notably leading the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s successful cartel action against the packaging company Visy, and representing notable figures like Christopher Skase and Alan Bond, his profound passion lies in the realm of art. He currently serves as the chair of the Melbourne Art Foundation, the organisation behind the annual Melbourne Art Fair, held every February. His extensive involvement in the arts also includes previous chairmanships of the Potter Museum of Art, the Sir Robert Menzies Memorial Foundation, and the contemporary dance company Lucy Guerin Inc. Jopling estimates his personal art collection numbers in the hundreds, yet he remains steadfast in his refusal to be categorised as a “collector.”
“I watched my parents buy art, I watched my uncle buy art. It was just something ingrained in me, something that I did,” Jopling explained. “It made my world more beautiful, more interesting, more engaged, more challenging, more reflective.” His choice of Di Stasio Citta for their luncheon was a deliberate one, a testament to his appreciation for owner Ronnie Di Stasio’s significant patronage of the arts.
The pair dined beneath a captivating video installation by artist Shaun Gladwell, projected on a continuous loop across the restaurant’s expansive white wall. “Who else would put this in a restaurant?” Jopling remarked with admiration, gesturing upwards.
Fortuitously, Gladwell himself was present at the restaurant, engaged in work on a new installation. He paused to greet Jopling, and the two engaged in a brief conversation about an upcoming meeting in Milan and the video portrait Gladwell had recently completed of Allan Myers, KC, for the Bar’s portrait gallery. Jopling is a key driving force behind this initiative. “I could write a book about the ego trip of many of the people who sat for the portraits and resisted what we wanted to do,” Jopling admitted. “But Allan didn’t flinch, hesitate or draw a breath. He said, ‘Go for it’.”
As they perused the menu, an appetiser arrived from Di Stasio: delicate triangles of bread adorned with creamy ricotta and crushed peas. Jopling’s reaction to the crostini was one of pure delight. “How good are peas?” he exclaimed with a contented sigh.
Jopling’s formative years were spent in Ballarat, where he attended what is now Ballarat Clarendon College. At the age of 11, he relocated to Melbourne and enrolled at Camberwell Grammar School, before embarking on his legal studies at the University of Melbourne. He credits his uncle, a barrister himself, and a perceived lack of aptitude for mathematics and science as the primary inspirations for his decision to pursue a career in law.
After a brief, “nanosecond” stint as a solicitor, completing his articles, Jopling served as a judge’s associate to two distinguished High Court judges: Sir Keith Aickin and Sir Ninian Stephen. “I was lucky to have two High Court judges that I worked for and formed great friendships with, and [they] had a great influence, really, on my life and my working practices because I saw how hard a High Court judge worked,” he reflected. This profound work ethic undoubtedly informed his own 45-year career at the Bar, where he specialised in the demanding field of commercial litigation.
“In the beginning, you took whatever you could get,” Jopling recalled. “You couldn’t be that fussy and that was good because you got good training. I got work in the Children’s Court, and it’s tough, but I learnt to cross-examine.” The rigour and meticulous preparation required for cross-examination are aspects Jopling deeply appreciates. “You only ask questions you know the answer to,” he explained. “There are a lot of people who are loose with the truth, and so it’s sort of almost the thrill of the chase in uncovering, getting to the core of the real story that they don’t really want to communicate.”
When questioned about his most memorable cases, Jopling conspicuously avoided mentioning high-profile matters like Visy, Skase, or Bond. Instead, he offered a cryptic response: “There are some that I’ll probably be remembered for, but it’s probably best not to talk about.” This likely alludes to his critical role as a court-appointed “contradictor” tasked with investigating the exorbitant fees charged by the now-disgraced former silk Norman O’Bryan in the Banksia Securities class action. Jopling’s only comment on the matter was that litigation is an arena not for the faint-hearted. “A friend of mine who is a judge on the Federal Court says it is the only activity in the world where everyone’s sort of against you,” he remarked. “If you’re in surgery and you’re trying to save someone’s life, everybody is working with you. The anaesthetist, the cardiac nurses or the surgical nurses, they’re all working with you to achieve a positive outcome. But in the courtroom, your opponents want to destroy you.” This adversarial nature, however, is precisely what Jopling finds so “exciting and invigorating” about the professional environment.
When asked if he ever contemplated a move to the bench, Jopling firmly shook his head. “I loved being a barrister,” he stated. His response to whether he had ever been asked to become a judge was equally definitive: “I wouldn’t go into that.” He expressed profound admiration for those who do serve as judges, acknowledging their “extraordinary service” and lamenting that “the public don’t properly understand the service that they do give. I don’t think they’re properly valued. Politicians have no idea.”
One area where Jopling has been particularly vocal is the practice of appointing solicitors as judges. “That’s been a trend and I think, by and large, a failure,” he asserted. Jopling firmly believes that the judiciary should comprise individuals with extensive trial experience, exclusively appointed from the Bar. “Governments love to be able to say, ‘Oh, I’ve appointed the first of this, and the first of that’,” he observed. “I don’t think the public really care. The public want the brightest and most efficient person.”
Jopling has also been a prominent advocate for the admission of women to the Australia Club, a historically men-only institution. “We’re not meant to talk about that in public, but it’s just ridiculous that they’re not members,” he declared. “If you’re going to have a club in a city of 5 million people, and you’re going to exclude one group on the basis of gender, I just don’t think that’s in touch with contemporary thinking.” He noted that while some members departed the club over the dispute, a significant number simply joined the nearby Melbourne Club, which also maintains a male-only membership, thus indicating a lack of fundamental change.
Jopling champions a strategy of effecting change from within. He recently celebrated his 70th birthday at the Australia Club, observing the irony that half his guests were women, and “nobody blinked.” He expressed optimism: “It’ll happen in time. I hope it happens in my lifetime. But we’ve got men from all backgrounds and all races and all sexual persuasions. So why can’t we have women as well?”
Their main courses arrived: thin slices of veal saltimbocca with crisp roast potatoes for Jopling, and a linguine for the author, irresistibly ordered due to its menu description of “prawns, parsley, lemon and sunshine.” On a typically overcast Melbourne day, the dish’s bright, fresh sauce was a welcome burst of flavour.
Jopling attributes his enduring love for art to his mother, who frequently took him to galleries and encouraged him to discuss their chosen artists afterwards. He also credits his parents’ consistent message that “you have an obligation to give back” for his deep commitment to the arts through his board memberships and chairmanships. However, Jopling acknowledges the significant personal enrichment he has derived from his artistic engagements. “The joy of it is I then started meeting people who weren’t lawyers,” he shared. “The law is a very insular world, and you know, probably it has to be. But I enjoy meeting people from other disciplines and broadening my horizons and my sense of understanding how the world operates.”
Currently, Jopling’s focus is firmly on the upcoming Melbourne Art Fair, slated to open on February 19. He anticipates it will be “even bigger and better” with the introduction of a new category, Futureobjekt. “It will be showcasing talented men and women who are craft-makers and place-makers,” Jopling explained. “I’d love to see that really strengthen and grow and become something of substance so that these people can see that there’s a commercial future for adaptation of what they’re making.”
The Melbourne Art Fair’s core objectives, according to Jopling, are to facilitate art sales and to educate the public about Australian artists. He takes pride in the fair’s commercial orientation. “You’ve got to sell product,” he stressed. “People have to earn money, people have got to pay rent, buy food, educate children, and they’ve got to live, so you’ve got to have a commercial proposition.” While the fair receives government funding from both federal and state levels, Jopling highlights the board’s successful efforts in securing corporate sponsorship from esteemed brands such as fashion label Loewe, champagne house Bollinger, and skincare business Rationale, owned by Jopling’s husband, Richard Parker.
Over lunch, Jopling opted for sparkling water, as he abstains from alcohol with the exception of an occasional glass of champagne. “I’m now on trend,” he quipped. “But if you met me 10 years ago for lunch, it would have been the same story, or 20 years ago.” His confessed indulgence is chocolate, and he swiftly devoured a small chocolate-coated ice-cream ball, a complimentary offering from Di Stasio. “I have an absolute sweet tooth,” he admitted.
Jopling’s “new project” involves a significant philanthropic endeavour: donating the artworks he possesses to the Potter Museum of Art and the University of Melbourne. “The aim is not to buy anything from now until the time of my death,” he stated. “Instead, I’m going to give the Potter money each year to buy something to add to the collection.” Nevertheless, Jopling anticipates a great deal more life and engagement. “I love meeting artists,” he concluded. “I love watching how they observe the world because I think that’s part of their native genius… their ability to observe a world that we’re too busy rushing around to stop and properly observe. They enable us to take stock of that world and to better understand and to better appreciate.”
The Melbourne Art Fair is scheduled to run from February 19-22, 2026.
