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Attorney General of New South Wales

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The Attorney General of New South Wales, in formal contexts also Attorney-General or Attorney General for New South Wales [1] and usually known simply as the Attorney General, is a minister in the Government of New South Wales who has responsibility for the administration of justice in New South Wales, Australia. In addition, the attorney general is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General, Crown Advocate, and Crown Solicitor, the attorney general serves as the chief legal and constitutional adviser of the Crown and Government of New South Wales.

Attorney-General of New South Wales
Coat of arms of New South Wales
Flag of New South Wales
Incumbent
Michael Daley
since 28 March 2023
Department of Communities and Justice
StyleThe Honourable
Member of
Reports toPremier of New South Wales
Seat52 Martin Place, Sydney
NominatorPremier of New South Wales
AppointerGovernor of New South Wales
on the advice of the premier
Term lengthAt the Governor's pleasure
Formation14 April 1824
First holderSaxe Bannister
DeputySolicitor General
Websitewww.justice.nsw.gov.au

The current attorney general, since 28 March 2023, is Michael Daley, SC.

The attorney general and the Ministers administer the portfolio through the Stronger Communities cluster, in particular the Department of Communities and Justice and a range of other government agencies.

Ultimately, the attorney general and the Ministers are responsible to the Parliament of New South Wales.

History and function

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Sir William Montagu Manning, Solicitor-General: 1844–1848; Chancellor of Sydney University: 1878–1895.
 
Sir William Charles Windeyer, Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales: 1881–1896; Chancellor of Sydney University: 1895–1898.
 
Sir Edmund Barton, Prime Minister of Australia: 1901–1903; Judge of the High Court of Australia: 1903–1920.
 
Sir Charles Wade, Premier of New South Wales: 1907–1910; Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales: 1920–1922.
 
Sir Edward McTiernan, Justice of the High Court of Australia: 1930–1976.
 
Sir Henry Manning, First leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council: 1941–1958.

The position of Attorney General has existed since 1824, well before the full establishment of the New South Wales Parliament (in 1856) but coinciding with the establishment of the New South Wales Legislative Council. From the beginning, the attorney general has been the Crown's advisor and representative in legal matters. It was modelled after the office of the Attorney General for England and Wales. As such the attorney general advises and represents the Crown and government departments in court. The person appointed to this role provides legal advice to the Government, acts as the representative of the public interest and resolves issues between government departments.

The attorney general also has supervisory powers over the prosecution of criminal offences, but is not personally involved with prosecutions. Today, prosecutions are carried out by the Public Prosecution Office and most legal advice to government departments is provided by the Government Legal Service, both under the supervision of the attorney general. The attorney general may appeal cases to the higher courts where, although the particular case is settled, there may be a point of law of public importance at issue. The attorney general is responsible to Parliament for activities of the Department of Justice and has responsibility for the all state's courts and tribunals and the appointment of judges, magistrates and statutory officers in New South Wales.

List of ministers

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Attorneys general

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The following individuals have served as Attorney General of New South Wales:

Ordinal Attorney General[2][3] Party Term begin Term end Time in office
1 Saxe Bannister   Not a member of
Legislative Council		 14 April 1824 13 October 1826 2 years, 182 days
2 William Henry Moore (acting) 13 October 1826 31 July 1827 291 days
3 Alexander Baxter [5] 1 August 1827 24 January 1831 3 years, 176 days
– William Henry Moore (acting) 24 January 1831 24 June 1831 151 days
4 John Kinchela   Prior to responsible government 25 June 1831 18 April 1836 4 years, 298 days
5 John Plunkett 17 September 1836 5 June 1856 19 years, 262 days
6 William Manning   No party 6 June 1856 25 August 1856 80 days
7 James Martin 26 August 1856 2 October 1856 37 days
– William Manning 3 October 1856 25 May 1857 1 year, 80 days
8 John Darvall 26 May 1857 7 September 1857 104 days
– James Martin QC 7 September 1857 8 November 1858 1 year, 62 days
9 Alfred Lutwyche QC 15 November 1858 21 February 1859 98 days
10 Lyttleton Bayley 21 February 1859 26 October 1859 247 days
11 Edward Wise 27 October 1859 13 February 1860 109 days
– Sir William Manning QC 21 February 1860 8 March 1860 16 days
12 John Hargrave 2 April 1860 31 July 1863 3 years, 120 days
– John Darvall QC 1 August 1863 15 October 1863 75 days
– James Martin QC [a] 16 October 1863 2 February 1865 1 year, 109 days
– John Darvall QC 3 February 1865 20 June 1865 137 days
– John Plunkett QC 25 August 1865 21 January 1866 149 days
– James Martin QC [a] 22 January 1866 26 October 1868 2 years, 278 days
– Sir William Manning QC 21 October 1868 15 December 1870 2 years, 55 days
– Sir James Martin QC [a] 16 December 1870 13 May 1872 1 year, 149 days
13 Edward Butler 15 May 1872 10 November 1873 1 year, 179 days
14 Joseph Innes 20 November 1873 8 February 1875 1 year, 80 days
15 William Dalley 9 February 1875 21 March 1877 2 years, 40 days
16 William Windeyer 22 March 1877 16 August 1877 147 days
– William Dalley QC 17 August 1877 17 December 1877 122 days
17 William Foster 18 December 1877 20 December 1878 1 year, 2 days
– William Windeyer 21 December 1878 10 August 1879 232 days
18 Robert Wisdom 13 August 1879 4 January 1883 3 years, 144 days
– William Dalley QC 5 January 1883 6 October 1885 2 years, 274 days
19 Jack Want 7 October 1885 21 December 1885 75 days
20 George Simpson 22 December 1885 25 February 1886 65 days
– Jack Want 26 February 1886 19 January 1887 327 days
– William Foster QC   Free Trade 20 January 1887 18 May 1887 118 days
21 Bernhard Wise 27 May 1887 7 February 1888 256 days
– George Simpson QC 10 February 1888 16 January 1889 341 days
22 Edmund Barton   Protectionist 17 January 1889 7 March 1889 49 days
– George Simpson QC   Free Trade 8 March 1889 22 October 1891 2 years, 228 days
– Edmund Barton QC   Protectionist 23 October 1891 14 December 1893 2 years, 52 days
23 Charles Heydon 15 December 1893 2 August 1894 230 days
– George Simpson QC   Free Trade 3 August 1894 1 December 1894 120 days
– Jack Want QC 18 December 1894 18 April 1899 4 years, 121 days
24 George Reid QC 19 April 1899 13 September 1899 147 days
– Bernhard Wise QC   Protectionist / Progressive 14 September 1899 14 June 1904 4 years, 274 days
25 James Gannon   Progressive 15 June 1904 29 August 1904 75 days
26 Charles Wade QC [b]   Liberal Reform 29 August 1904 20 October 1910 6 years, 52 days
27 William Holman [a]   Labor 21 October 1910 29 January 1914 3 years, 100 days
28 David Hall 29 January 1914 15 November 1916 2 years, 291 days
  Nationalist 15 November 1916 23 July 1919 2 years, 250 days
29 John Garland 23 July 1919 12 April 1920 264 days
30 Edward McTiernan   Labor 12 April 1920 20 December 1921 1 year, 252 days
31 Thomas Bavin   Nationalist 20 December 1921 20 December 1921 7 hours
– Edward McTiernan   Labor 20 December 1921 13 April 1922 114 days
– Thomas Bavin   Nationalist 13 April 1922 17 June 1925 3 years, 65 days
– Edward McTiernan   Labor 17 June 1925 26 May 1927 1 year, 343 days
32 Andrew Lysaght 27 May 1927 18 October 1927 144 days
33 Francis Boyce   Nationalist 18 October 1927 3 November 1930 3 years, 16 days
– Andrew Lysaght   Labor 4 November 1930 16 June 1931 224 days
34 Joseph Lamaro 16 June 1931 15 October 1931 121 days
  Labor (NSW) 15 October 1931 13 May 1932 211 days
35 Daniel Levy   United Australia 16 May 1932 17 June 1932 32 days
36 Henry Manning 18 June 1932 16 May 1941 8 years, 332 days
37 Clarrie Martin   Labor 16 May 1941 23 February 1953 11 years, 283 days
38 Bill Sheahan 23 February 1953 15 March 1956 3 years, 21 days
39 Reg Downing 15 March 1956 13 May 1965 9 years, 59 days
40 Ken McCaw   Liberal 13 May 1965 3 January 1975 9 years, 235 days
41 John Maddison 3 January 1975 14 May 1976 1 year, 132 days
42 Frank Walker   Labor 14 May 1976 1 February 1983 6 years, 263 days
43 Paul Landa 1 February 1983 24 November 1984 1 year, 297 days
44 Neville Wran (acting)[a] 27 November 1984 12 December 1984 15 days
45 Terry Sheahan 12 December 1984 26 November 1987 2 years, 349 days
46 Ron Mulock 26 November 1987 21 March 1988 116 days
47 John Dowd   Liberal 25 March 1988 6 June 1991 3 years, 73 days
48 Peter Collins 6 June 1991 3 July 1992 1 year, 27 days
49 John Hannaford 3 July 1992 4 April 1995 2 years, 275 days
50 Jeff Shaw   Labor 4 April 1995 28 June 2000 5 years, 85 days
51 Bob Debus 28 June 2000 2 April 2007 6 years, 278 days
52 John Hatzistergos 2 April 2007 (2007-04-02) 28 March 2011 (2011-03-28) 3 years, 360 days
53 Greg Smith   Liberal 3 April 2011 (2011-04-03) 23 April 2014 (2014-04-23) 3 years, 20 days
54 Brad Hazzard 23 April 2014 (2014-04-23) 2 April 2015 (2015-04-02) 344 days
55 Gabrielle Upton 2 April 2015 (2015-04-02) 30 January 2017 (2017-01-30) 1 year, 303 days
56 Mark Speakman SC 30 January 2017 (2017-01-30) 28 March 2023 (2023-03-28) 6 years, 57 days
57 Michael Daley   Labor 28 March 2023 incumbent 1 year, 239 days
  1. ^ a b c d e Concurrently Premier of New South Wales.
  2. ^ Premier of New South Wales from 2 October 1907

See also

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References

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  1. ^ See, e.g. Attorney General for New South Wales v Burns & Ors, Leahy v Attorney-General for New South Wales and Makin v Attorney General for New South Wales
  2. ^ O'Neill, Patrick. "New South Wales Attorneys-General 1823+". List of Australian Attorneys-General. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  3. ^ "Part 6 Ministries since 1856" (PDF). NSW Parliamentary Record. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  4. ^ "Mr Alexander Macduff Baxter". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  5. ^ Baxter was subsequently appointed to the Legislative Council on 30 January 1829.[4]
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