George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I thank the minister for the forthrightness of his expression of the government’s view that the Attorney-General spoke appropriately. Does the government then not accept the criticism of the Attorney-General by the trial judge, Justice Bongiorno, that:

It’s abundantly clear it would have been to the enhancement of justice in this country if these comments had not been made … They were unnecessary and had the potential to cause difficulties in this trial.

Does the government not accept that reprimand of the Attorney-General by the trial judge?