James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The government opposes the motion. Firstly, from the Commonwealth's point of view, there was never any agreement with Western Australia relating to the distribution of proceeds of the Bell Group liquidation, or the High Court proceedings. Secondly, the Attorney-General instructed the Solicitor-General to intervene on behalf of the Commonwealth following the receipt of advice from the Solicitor-General. The distinction drawn in the motion between 'direction' and 'instruction' is spurious; barristers act only on instructions. Thirdly, there is no connection between the issuing of the legal services direction and the Bell Group litigation. The Attorney-General has made clear that the process leading to the issue of the direction began in November 2015, months before discussion about intervention in the Bell Group proceedings.