Solicitor-General of Australia

[2] The Solicitor-General notably offered advice to the government and defended members of parliament in court during the Australian Parliamentary eligibility crisis.

Robert Garran had already been permanent secretary of the Attorney-General's Department since Federation, and the new position recognised the additional responsibilities that Hughes now delegated to him.

[18] In performing their role, the Solicitor-General must act in accordance with the rule of law and maintain independence from the executive government of the day.

[16][18] Until 1979, the Solicitor-General had criminal law prosecutorial powers, but these are now held by the Director of Public Prosecutions, a separate office supported by an agency within the Attorney-General’s Department.

[16] This is widely viewed as an important aspect of the Solicitor-General’s role, as it ensures they remain independent due to the security of their tenure.

[20] Although, Gleeson during his term as Solicitor-General introduced Guidance Note 11, this codified a system for those in government seeking advice.

[19][20] Gleeson did later clarify that these stipulations applied with the exception of the Prime Minister and the Governor-General seeking confidential advice.

[21] In 2016 he clarified this position by explaining that s 12(b) allows the Attorney-General to seek the legal opinion of the Solicitor-General even where this question falls out of the scope provided in s 12(a).

[22] Considering the inconsistency in views according to some legal opinions there is need of reform of s 12 of the Law Officers Act to clarify if the Attorney-General is able to restrict access to the Solicitor-General.

[27][28] Gleeson suggested this effectively blocked the Solicitor-General providing advice without the express permission of the Attorney-General which is contradictory to the independence of the role from the executive branch of government.

[26] He explained this was especially problematic in the situation where an election resulted in a hung parliament and the Governor-General sought the advice of the Solicitor-General which under the amendment would be unlawful.

[27] Gleeson in his resignation letter expressed that the Commonwealth is best served when the Law Officers completely trust each other and have a “mutually respectful relationship” which he described as being broken with Brandis.

[23][26] In 1974 Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam offered Queensland Senator Vince Gair the position of ambassador to the Republic of Ireland and the Vatican.

[30] Whitlam is believed to have hoped that Gair’s resignation, which was required having accepted the post, would allow Labor to contest and win his vacant seat in the upcoming half-Senate election, in turn gaining a majority in the Senate.

[33] This was responded to by the Opposition who proposed that the government had not opposed Gair being involved in Senate debates and votes at any point before the writs for the half-Senate election were issued.

[32] This matter ultimately concluded by Whitlam enacting a double dissolution nullifying the half-Senate election as all seats were in contention.