The solicitor general, Justin Gleeson, has resigned. Do not consider this a backward step on Gleeson’s part.
He indicated why he made this decision. The relationship between the first and second law officers of Australia was “irretrievably broken”, he said.
Gleeson’s letter amounts to what is effectively a curse on the attorney general, George Brandis. Gleeson was emphatic. He hopes his resignation will better allow the Senate to get to the bottom of the whole sorry saga.
“My decision does not amount to a withdrawal of any position I have taken in relation to matters of controversy between us, including before the Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee,” he writes.
“I trust that it will in fact better enable the parliament to make an objective consideration of the issues I have raised undistracted by the personalities.
“For the avoidance of any doubt, I also make plain that I reject absolutely each and every attack and insinuation that has been made in recent times upon me personally or upon my office by government members of parliament, including you in Senate committee processes.”
The dispute revolves around whether Brandis consulted Gleeson on his directive that any requests to the solicitor general’s office for legal advice from other areas of government should be approved by the attorney general. Brandis told the Senate he did consult. Gleeson has maintained Brandis did not.
Gleeson was also unhappy that he was not properly consulted on a controversial citizenship bill that split the Abbott cabinet, even though Brandis subsequently claimed that Gleeson had advised it could withstand challenge in the high court.
The dispute culminated in an extraordinary showdown in front of a Senate committee.
We saw an Liberal National party senator yelling at Gleeson and Gleeson standing his ground.
We saw Gleeson declaring that he considered the Brandis directive invalid.
We saw Gleeson revealing he had given advice on the Senate composition and Brandis pointing out he was “astonished” Gleeson would reveal such a thing without his permission.
We saw Gleeson reveal that he had spoken to Labor shadow attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, in the caretaker period before the election. Not a clever move, given the election and the politics around an already deteriorating relationship.
This open warfare could only end in one way. Someone had to go. In his letter to Gleeson, Brandis said his resignation was the “proper course to take”.
As a result, Gleeson will leave before the next sitting of parliament on 7 November.
The next day the Senate committee, dominated by the opposition and minor parties, will give their report on the dispute. Given the numbers on the committee, it is not likely to be good for the government.
What happens next? Labor has already moved to disallow the legal directive and Labor would need to win the numbers to do that. The minority Senate could well censure Brandis. Given that the numbers were there to hold the committee inquiry in the first place, both of these options are possible.
While Malcolm Turnbull has stood by his attorney general, within the Coalition Brandis has made it clear that he wants to leave parliament in this term. Ensuring this story has a way to run. Gleeson’s curse could yet take hold.