Collaery was subsequently appointed Deputy Chief Minister and Attorney-General in the Kaine Liberal government with responsibility for welfare and community services; housing; sport and recreation; and youth.

[11] The debate that followed showed that Collaery had been removed from his position as Deputy Chief Minister and Attorney General because he and the two remaining Rally members in the Assembly (Norm Jensen and Dr Hector Kinloch) could not support planning decisions affecting school sites.

[12] Comments by Mr Duby, one of the three ministers involved in the decisions in Collaery's absence, confirmed that account of the reason for the fall of the Alliance Government.

Collaery advocated on behalf of Timor-Leste and was legal advisor to the National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT) in the critical period up until formal independence in 2002.

[23][24] In 2013 Collaery alleged that two agents from the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation raided his Canberra office and seized electronic and paper files.

[25] The Australian Attorney-General, George Brandis, confirmed that he authorised a request by ASIO for a search warrant on Collaery's office, to protect Australia's national security.

The report found that the cause of the delay in bringing charges against "Witness K" and Collaery was the reluctance of former attorney-general George Brandis to give consent to the prosecution.

[30] The Four Corners report also contained an interview with former prime minister of Timor-Leste, Xanana Gusmão, who said he would give evidence in court on behalf of "Witness K" and Collaery if their prosecution was not a secret trial.

[31] The prosecution of Collaery and "Witness K" is under the National Security Information (NSI) Act which was introduced in 2004 to deal with classified and sensitive material in court cases.

[32] The Four Corners report revealed that Christian Porter has issued a secret certificate limiting the disclosure of certain information and evidence in court that is considered prejudicial to national security.

Justice David Mossop ruled in the government's favour and decided that the material identified by the Attorney-General as sensitive should remain classified in Collaery's future trial.

[32] Attorney-General Porter revealed in Parliament that "[a]s at 3 June 2020, external legal costs incurred by the Commonwealth in the prosecutions of Witness K and Mr Bernard Collaery total approximately $2,063,442.86".

The Commonwealth opposed the release of the documents and in May 2022, Justice Mossop set aside Collaery's subpoenas after deciding that the legality of the ASIS operation was irrelevant to the case.

[38] Before Justice Mossop's decision could be tested on appeal the indictments against Collaery were dropped on 7 July 2022 by new Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus SC using his reserve powers in the Judiciary Act 1903.

The letter points out that Collaery is bound by the provisions of the Intelligence Services Act (2001) due to his arrangement with ASIS that was made in order for him to represent "Witness K".