Introduction

The Solicitor-General is the second Law Officer of the Commonwealth. The modern United Kingdom Solicitor-General is a Member of Parliament not a statutory officer, unlike his or her Australian counterpart. Ministerial responsibility to the Parliament is one of the elements of responsible government. A system of responsible government traditionally has been considered to encompass the means by which Parliament brings the Executive to account' so that the Executive's primary responsibility in its prosecution of government is owed to Parliament'. Common wealth legislation relating to parliamentary privileges does not appear to have affected the powers of the Houses of the Australian Parliament to inquire. Indeed, in Commonwealth vs Northern Land Council, the Full Court of the Federal Court noted that the concept of collective responsibility did not really emerge as an element of Cabinet government until the mid-nineteenth century'. The contrary view on which the government acted was understood to be supported by the opinion of Senator Lionel Murphy, then Attorney-General.