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

I do not acknowledge that at all. Section 180X, which sets out the role of the Public Interest Advocate, describes the role of the Public Interest Advocate in subsection (2), which gives the Public Interest Advocate the role to make submissions to a minister about matters relevant to a decision to issue, or refuse to issue, a journalist information warrant under section 180L, or a decision about the conditions or restrictions, if any, that are to be specified in such a warrant. If you go then to section 180L, it states those matters which the minister must have regard to in subsection (2) include the public interest consideration set out with some particularity over six sub subparagraphs in subsection (2)(b). Those are the very matters, including that elaborately articulated series of public interest considerations which the minister must consider, which the Public Interest Advocate must also consider.

It is not necessarily the case that the Public Interest Advocate will be a contradicter of the minister; but, in an appropriate case, having regard to the public interest considerations, he may be. It is his role to be the Public Interest Advocate. That is the name of the statutory office, and the function of the statutory office is to, as it were, second-guess the minister's judgement in relation to those six particular aspects of the public interest set out in subsection 180L(2)(b).