Gary Nairn (Eden-Monaro, Liberal Party, Special Minister of State) Share this | Hansard source

We made sure that the Electoral Commission could ask any particular questions if they needed any information, because the commissioner made a statement earlier in the day—I think this was on the 14th—that they would seek legal advice. We certainly ensured that the AEC got any information that they needed to be able to get that legal advice. I should also point out to the member for Bruce, to save him some questions perhaps, my understanding is that the government, via the Prime Minister’s office, I think through the Attorney-General’s, obtained their own legal advice from Mr Burmester. And the AEC, quite independently, obtained their own legal advice.

There have been a number of comments made—most recently by the member for Grayndler in the previous part of this appropriation debate in the Main Committee. From what I heard him say, he seemed to think that the AEC’s advice was the same as what the government got. That is not the case. The Attorney-General obtained advice directly from Mr Burmester. The AEC, independently, had already instigated the processes to get their own independent advice from the Australian Government Solicitor, and they in fact received that advice prior to even seeing the Burmester advice.

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