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

I thought you were a lawyer, Senator Wong. You should know better than that. A government does not demand the resignation of a person appointed under letters patent by the Governor-General. Were the government to do that, that would be a crime under the Royal Commissions Act—to put pressure on a royal commissioner. An application has been foreshadowed on behalf of the ACTU—not, by the way, presently a party before the proceedings—to ask the royal commissioner to stand aside on the ground of apprehended bias. Were it to be brought, and I might say that Mr Newlinds indicated before lunch that he does not yet have instructions to bring such an application, it would be dealt with by the royal commissioner in the appropriate way.