Attorney-General of Western Australia

The Attorney-General of Western Australia is the member of the Government of Western Australia responsible for maintenance and improvement of Western Australia's system of law and justice. Before the advent of representative government in 1870, the title was Advocate-General of Western Australia. The Attorney-General must be a qualified legal practitioner. When there are none in the cabinet, a lay person is sometimes appointed to the office of Minister for Justice.^[1]

Attorney-General of Western Australia
Western Australian Coat of Arms
Flag of Western Australia
Incumbent John Quigley since 17 March 2017
Department of Justice
Style	The Honourable
Member of	Parliament Cabinet Executive Council
Reports to	Premier of Western Australia
Seat	Dumas House, Perth
Nominator	Premier of Western Australia
Appointer	Governor of Western Australia on the advice of the premier
Term length	At the governor's pleasure
Formation	1831
First holder	William Mackie (as Advocate-General)
Website	www.justice.wa.gov.au

The current Attorney-General of Western Australia, since 17 March 2017, is John Quigley who administers the portfolio through the Department of Justice and a range of other agencies.

One of Quigley's predecessors Christian Porter went on to become Federal Attorney General.^[2][3]

List

This is a list of Attorneys-General of Western Australia, or any precedent titles.^[4] The office of Attorney-General was not always filled: the Australian Parliamentary Library notes that where there was no lawyer among the ministers elected, there would be a Minister for Justice instead of an Attorney-General.^[5][6]

Order	Minister	Party		Premier	Title	Term start	Term end	Time in office
1	William Mackie	none			Advocate-General	1831	1834	2–3 years
2	George Fletcher Moore					1834	1846	11–12 years
3	Richard West Nash				Acting Advocate-General	1846	1847	0–1 years
(2)	George Fletcher Moore				Advocate-General	1847	1852	4–5 years
4	B. W. Vigors				Acting Advocate-General	1852	1854	1–2 years
5	George Frederick Stone				Advocate-General	1854	1857	2–3 years
6	Richard Burnie					1857	1859	1–2 years
(5)	George Frederick Stone					1860	1870	9–10 years
7	Robert John Walcott[7][8]				Attorney-General	4 November 1870	December 1872	2 years, 27 days
8	Sir Henry Hicks Hocking[9]					December 1872	30 June 1874 (1874-06-30)	1 year, 211 days
9	Sir George Walpole Leake QC					30 June 1874	16 January 1875	200 days
(8)	Henry Hicks Hocking					16 January 1875	25 February 1879	4 years, 40 days
9	Sir George Walpole Leake QC					1 March 1879	24 November 1879	268 days
10	Edward Albert Stone					24 November 1879	21 March 1880	118 days
(9)	Sir George Walpole Leake QC					21 March 1880	21 March 1881	1 year, 0 days
11	Alexander Onslow					21 March 1881	9 April 1883	2 years, 19 days
(9)	Sir George Walpole Leake QC					9 April 1883	10 July 1883	92 days
12	Alfred Hensman					10 July 1883	18 June 1886	2 years, 343 days
13	Septimus Burt					19 June 1886	3 December 1886	167 days
14	Charles Warton					9 December 1886	December 1890	4 years, 20 days
(13)	Septimus Burt		none	Forrest		29 December 1890	27 October 1897	6 years, 302 days
15	Richard Pennefather					27 October 1897	20 March 1901	3 years, 144 days
16	William Sayer			Throssell		25 March 1901	27 May 1901	68 days
17	George Leake KC			Leake		27 May 1901	21 November 1901	178 days
18	Frederick Moorhead			Morgans		21 November 1901	23 December 1901	32 days
(17)	George Leake KC			Leake		23 December 1901	24 June 1902	183 days
19	Walter James			James		1 July 1902	10 August 1904	2 years, 40 days
20	Norbert Keenan		Ministerialist	Moore	Attorney-General	14 May 1906	14 May 1909	3 years, 0 days
21	John Nanson		Ministerialist	Wilson	Attorney-General	16 September 1910	7 October 1911	1 year, 21 days
22	Thomas Walker		Labor	Scadden		7 October 1911	27 July 1916	4 years, 294 days
23	Robert Robinson		Liberal	Wilson		27 July 1916	28 June 1917 (1917-06-28)	2 years, 294 days
			Nationalist	Lefroy		28 June 1917 (1917-06-28)	17 April 1919 (1919-04-17)
				Colebatch		17 April 1919 (1919-04-17)	17 May 1919 (1919-05-17)
24	Thomas Draper			Mitchell		17 May 1919	12 March 1921	1 year, 299 days
25	Thomas Davy		Nationalist	Mitchell	Attorney-General	24 April 1930	18 February 1933	2 years, 300 days
26	Hubert Parker		Labor	Collier		22 February 1933	8 April 1933	45 days
27	Robert Ross McDonald		Liberal	McLarty	Attorney-General	1 April 1947	5 January 1948	279 days
28	Arthur Abbott					5 January 1948	23 February 1953	5 years, 49 days
29	Arthur Watts		Liberal	Brand	Attorney-General	2 April 1959	31 January 1962	2 years, 304 days
30	Ron Bertram		Labor	Tonkin	Attorney-General	3 March 1971	30 September 1971	211 days
31	Tom Evans					12 October 1971	8 April 1974	2 years, 178 days
32	Ian Medcalf		Liberal	Court	Attorney-General	22 December 1975	25 January 1982	7 years, 65 days
				O'Connor		25 January 1982	25 February 1983
33	Joe Berinson		Labor	Burke		25 February 1983	25 February 1988 (1988-02-25)	9 years, 357 days
				Dowding		25 February 1988 (1988-02-25)	12 February 1990 (1990-02-12)
				Lawrence		12 February 1990 (1990-02-12)	16 February 1993 (1993-02-16)	3 years, 4 days
34	Cheryl Edwardes		Liberal	Court		16 February 1993	21 December 1995	2 years, 308 days
35	Peter Foss					21 December 1995	16 February 2001	5 years, 57 days
36	Jim McGinty		Labor	Gallop		16 February 2001	25 January 2006 (2006-01-25)	7 years, 220 days
				Carpenter		25 January 2006 (2006-01-25)	23 September 2008 (2008-09-23)
37	Christian Porter		Liberal	Barnett		23 September 2008	12 June 2012	3 years, 279 days
38	Michael Mischin					28 June 2012	17 March 2017	4 years, 262 days
39	John Quigley		Labor	McGowan		17 March 2017 (2017-03-17)	8 June 2023	7 years, 249 days
				Cook		8 June 2023	incumbent

References

1. "Justice Ministers of Western Australia" (PDF). Parliamentary Library. Perth, WA: Parliament of Western Australia. 28 March 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
2. "Barnett tried to keep Porter in WA". 12 June 2012.
3. Johnson, Paul (9 November 2020). "Turnbull tells Q&A he didn't know extent of Christian Porter revelations". ABC News.
4. "Membership of the Legislative Council, 1832-70" (PDF). Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
5. "List of Australian Attorneys-General". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
6. E. M. Russell, ‘Early Lawyers of Western Australia’, Journal and Proceedings (Western Australian Historical Society), vol 4, part 3, 1951, pp 32-53
7. "Events of the Month". The Herald. Fremantle, WA. 8 December 1870. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
8. "Summary for the Mails". The Herald. Fremantle, WA. 12 October 1872. p. 3. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
9. "Arrival of the English and Colonial Mails". The Herald. Fremantle, WA. 15 February 1873. p. 3. Retrieved 16 September 2014.