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

I read what Dr Griffith had to say and I do not agree with all of it. I am not alone in disagreeing with Dr Griffith, by the way, because another former law officer of the Crown has expressed a different view. He recently said:

… that the Solicitor-General's advice was given a high status within government, higher than advice from the Australian Government Solicitor or from the private bar. Nevertheless, he would, occasionally, seek another legal opinion. He explained that he might seek another opinion on particularly important political issues:

Or two. Or three. Perhaps I might feel I needed two to outweigh the Solicitor-General's advice, and I would go and get very senior advice. And I've done that. And I would do it again.

Do you know which senior law officer recently expressed that opinion? It was Mr Mark Dreyfus. I do not agree with Dr Griffith, but neither, apparently, does Mr Mark Dreyfus in his contribution to Professor Gabrielle Appleby's book The role of the Solicitor-General. I would have thought that Mr Dreyfus's words, which—