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

Senator Wong, with respect, you make my point for me. I did not approach the meeting of 30 November 2015 with any preformed view as to how the issue which had been raised with me by the Solicitor-General should be dealt with. The purpose of that meeting was to listen to what the Solicitor-General had to say to me and have a discussion with him so that we could proceed to fix the problem he had identified. I asked him to put before me his views, which he did the following March, and it was on the basis of both that conversation on 30 November and the material he put before me in March 2016 that I arrived at a view. It was my view and it was my department's view that that was consultation within the relevant meaning of the act.