Newman defends A-G over call to go

CAMPBELL Newman has dismissed calls to sack the ­Attorney-General.

CAMPBELL Newman has dismissed calls to sack the ­Attorney-General as his government yesterday defended its record on appointing mostly men to the bench. The Queensland Premier backed Jarrod Bleijie after recently resigned solicitor-general Walter Sofronoff QC called for his former boss to resign, accusing him of breaching the trust of a senior judge.

The furore erupted after Mr Sofronoff questioned the integrity of Mr Bleijie for publicly revealing private advice purport ­edly given last year by Supreme Court of Appeal president Margaret McMurdo over a looming judicial appointment.

Last weekend, Mr Bleijie said Justice McMurdo had said if “I couldn’t appoint her husband (Supreme Court judge Phil McMurdo) … then I should appoint Justice Peter Lyons’’ to the position on the Court of Appeal.

The comments were made after Justice McMurdo gave a speech on Friday night in which the state’s top female judge questioned whether the Newman government had an “unconscious bias’’ against appointing women to the judiciary.

Mr Sofronoff, who quit suddenly last week after drafting some initial anti-bikie laws, yesterday called on Mr Bleijie to resign. “Certainly he’s not able to perform one of the duties of his office or at least he’s highly pre­judiced in performing it,’’ he said.

“What judge in his or her right mind will give him advice about the merits of various candidates knowing that if it suits him politically, he will issue a press release detailing the ­conversation?’’

Mr Newman said Mr Bleijie had every right to defend the government from Justice Mc­Murdo’s criticism. “If you want to go into the political arena ... you have to be prepared that people will respond and defend their position,’’ he said.

Mr Bleijie called Mr Sofronoff’s comments “unfortunate and disappointing’’. He defended the government, which selected one woman for 17 ­judicial vacancies it filled. “I consulted the former chief magistrate, Judge Butler, the current chief magistrate, the chief justice, the president of the Court of Appeal, the Law Society and the Bar Association on all these types of appointments, and everyone has been very happy with all these appointments,’’ he said.