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

You really should not accuse the judges of the High Court of misbehaviour. There is absolutely no suggestion of that, and it is not a proper thing to do. It appears that a mistake was made in 2004 in the drafting of the High Court Rules—a mistake of a very technical nature—so that there was a small discrepancy between a form and a rule. That is not legally consequential. In fact, no member of the current High Court was a member of the High Court of Australia in 2004, so no member of the current High Court was involved in the decisions made in 2004. No member of the High Court has been guilty of misbehaviour. No member of the High Court has been guilty of any unconstitutional conduct. This is not a constitutional issue. It is not an issue of behaviour. It is a question of a minor discrepancy which you, Senator Culleton, have noticed. (Time expired)