Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, of course the Attorney-General considers that the government should act as a model litigant in each matter that it's involved in, and, as far as I'm aware, that's exactly how the Commonwealth acts, at least under the Albanese government. We do take those issues very seriously. It is important that the Commonwealth upholds that principle of being a model litigant, and I assure you that, particularly in the hands of an eminent barrister like Mr Dreyfus, the Attorney-General, that is the principle that we uphold. I know that we haven't always had attorneys-general in this country who have Mr Dreyfus's standing, both as a lawyer and as a person of principle, but we're very fortunate, I think, at the moment to have an Attorney-General who conducts himself in an appropriate way. I think it's excellent that we have an Attorney-General who, if asked to cooperate with the police, would do so, unlike previous occupants of this role. I think it's also wonderful that as the Attorney-General we have a man, in Mr Dreyfus, with the utmost integrity who has not just promised to deliver a National Anti-Corruption Commission but actually done so—again, unlike former attorneys-general that we have seen in this parliament.

So yes. I suspect that we're leading to a particular matter, and I will be happy to answer Senator Scarr's question about that, but of course this government takes its responsibilities to act as a model litigant seriously. Whether we're talking about that in civil proceedings against the Commonwealth or whether we're talking about it in proceedings that the Commonwealth elects to join or intervene in, it is always important that the Commonwealth upholds its responsibilities to be a model litigant.