Chris Ketter (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

If one were to listen to those opposite about the Labor questions during question time, one would suspect that the rule of law is something which they consider to be 'inside the Beltway' and something about which to score political points. We on this side of the chamber make absolutely no apology whatsoever for stridently seeking to hold the government to account on every aspect of the government's administration. When it comes to the rule of law, can there be any more grave issue for the opposition to hold the government to account over? It underpins everything.

The issue of the independence of the Solicitor-General and the actions of the Attorney-General is daily in the media. It is not just the opposition talking about this issue; it is a matter of conjecture in the media as to this unseemly and unedifying stand-off between the Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General, the nation's first and second law officers. This is not something which should be happening in the first place, and it is a great disappointment to me that we have an Attorney-General who is not seeking to uphold the independence of the Solicitor-General and, in fact, is going in the opposite direction by seeking to constrain the Solicitor-General in the advice that can be given to various aspects and elements of the government. This surely is a very important matter of public discussion. It is definitely not a matter which is 'inside the Beltway'. It goes, as I say, to so many other aspects of what is going on in our society.

We know that the job of the Solicitor-General is to provide legal advice to the government. However, somehow Senator Brandis has managed to seriously disrupt the Solicitor-General's ability to carry out the role. In fact, it can be said, as I said yesterday, that he has hobbled the ability of the Solicitor-General to do his job. To make the Solicitor-General have to obtain written approval from the Attorney-General to advise the Governor-General or indeed any head of a government department can only be described as a power grab. It undermines the important role of the Public Service in offering independent advice to government departments and it undermines the quality of the advice provided by the Solicitor-General.

Today Senator Brandis continued to undermine the Solicitor-General, by not condemning the speech made by Senator Macdonald, a fellow Queensland senator. Again, it is a matter of great disappointment to me that we have a Queensland senator involved in seeking to undermine an independent statutory officer. I heard Senator Macdonald yesterday, in interjections, and again today stating that the cause of his concern about the Solicitor-General related back to the fact that he was a Labor appointment. This, surely, is an area in which the Attorney-General should rush to the defence of the Solicitor-General. Appointments occur on both sides of politics, and for a government senator to criticise the appointment of the Solicitor-General merely because he was appointed by this side of the chamber undermines the rule of law that we have in this country.

Australians need to be able to trust their Attorney-General and we need to have trust in our Public Service. However, Senator Brandis has managed to undermine both his position as Australia's first law officer and the Solicitor-General's position as the second law officer. As a conservative, Senator Brandis is supposed to preserve our institutions, not politicise or destroy them. This is a complete mess. Australians are entitled to think, based on the mythology put forward by those opposite, that the conservative parties are the upholders of our public institutions. Unfortunately we see, yet again, that it is the coalition which is rushing to smash conventions which have underpinned our rule of law and which are so important. This Attorney-General has brought disrespect to his office. (Time expired)

Question agreed to.