George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

of a very distinguished Australian. Mr Heydon withdrew from this function at his own initiative—not, as you dishonestly and sleazily say, having been caught out by the media but on his own initiative, at a time earlier than any report into the matter had surfaced in the media. Take caution in your tone, Senator Collins. You are talking about a justice of the High Court of Australia; a man appointed to the New South Wales Court of Appeal by a Labor state government; an eminent, illustrious Australian legal scholar; a Vinerian scholar; a Rhodes scholar; one of the most eminent and distinguished Australians this country has ever produced. Thank God we have Australians of the integrity and the intellectual weight of Dyson Heydon who are prepared to take up public service, notwithstanding that they subject themselves to the slings and arrows of creatures like you.