Chief law officer for the state of western Australia, 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]
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] 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, 320 days
Cook
8 June 2023
incumbent
References
^ "Justice Ministers of Western Australia" (PDF) . Parliamentary Library . Perth, WA: Parliament of Western Australia. 28 March 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2016 .^ "Barnett tried to keep Porter in WA" . 12 June 2012.^ Johnson, Paul (9 November 2020). "Turnbull tells Q&A he didn't know extent of Christian Porter revelations" . ABC News . ^ "Membership of the Legislative Council, 1832-70" (PDF) . Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 26 October 2014 .^ "List of Australian Attorneys-General" . Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 26 October 2014 .^ E. M. Russell, ‘Early Lawyers of Western Australia’, Journal and Proceedings (Western Australian Historical Society), vol 4, part 3, 1951, pp 32-53
^ "Events of the Month" . The Herald . Retrieved 16 September 2014 .^ "Summary for the Mails" . The Herald . Fremantle, WA. 12 October 1872. p. 3. Retrieved 16 September 2014 .^ "Arrival of the English and Colonial Mails" . The Herald . Fremantle, WA. 15 February 1873. p. 3. Retrieved 16 September 2014 .
