Senator BRANDIS (Queensland—Attorney-General, Vice-President of the Executive Council and Leader of the Government in the Senate) (14:08): I do not agree with everything Dr Griffith has said in the words attributed to him in this morning's paper, Senator Farrell. Senator Farrell: Mr President, I rise on a point of order. There is one question I am asking in respect of this matter, and that is: does Senator Brandis agree with the dodgy advice that is referred to— The PRESIDENT: There is no point of order. The Attorney-General has just barely started his answer. He is five seconds into his answer, so I think we can give the Attorney-General a bit more time. Senator BRANDIS: I read what Dr Griffith had to say and I do not agree with all of it. I am not alone in disagreeing with Dr Griffith, by the way, because another former law officer of the Crown has expressed a different view. He recently said: … that the Solicitor-General's advice was given a high status within government, higher than advice from the Australian Government Solicitor or from the private bar. Nevertheless, he would, occasionally, seek another legal opinion. He explained that he might seek another opinion on particularly important political issues: Or two. Or three. Perhaps I might feel I needed two to outweigh the Solicitor-General's advice, and I would go and get very senior advice. And I've done that. And I would do it again. Do you know which senior law officer recently expressed that opinion? It was Mr Mark Dreyfus. I do not agree with Dr Griffith, but neither, apparently, does Mr Mark Dreyfus in his contribution to Professor Gabrielle Appleby's book The role of the Solicitor-General. I would have thought that Mr Dreyfus's words, which— Senator Wong: Mr President, I rise on a point of order. Government senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order on my right! I need to hear the point of order. Senator Wong: I know the Attorney is very obsessed with Mr Dreyfus. I know that. We all know that. But I would suggest— The PRESIDENT: What is the point of order, Senator Wong? Senator Wong: The point of order is on direct relevance. We did not actually ask about Mr Dreyfus. I know Senator Brandis thinks about him a lot. We asked about Mr Griffith QC and his views. I have not intervened for a minute, but as yet he has not actually got to the point. The PRESIDENT: I believe the Attorney-General answered it up-front by saying he does not agree and that there are other people who disagree. So I think he did answer the question quite succinctly. Senator BRANDIS: Mr Dreyfus's views, which on this occasion accord with mine, must have been fresh in his mind since the book which quotes him was only published last month. This is why I find it very difficult to understand how Mr Dreyfus could, without hypocrisy, have attacked me for allegedly doing the very thing that he said he did and would do again. The PRESIDENT: Senator Farrell, a supplementary question?