Attorney-General of Western Australia explained

Post:	Attorney-General
Body:	Western Australia
Insignia:	Western Australian Coat of Arms.svg
Insigniasize:	120px
Insigniacaption:	Western Australian Coat of Arms
Flag:	Flag of Western Australia.svg
Flagsize:	120px
Flagcaption:	Flag of Western Australia
Incumbent:	John Quigley
Incumbentsince:	17 March 2017
Department:	Department of Justice
Style:	The Honourable
Reports To:	Premier of Western Australia
Seat:	Dumas House, Perth
Nominator:	Premier of Western Australia
Appointer:	Governor of Western Australia
Appointer Qualified:	on the advice of the premier
Termlength:	At the governor's pleasure
Formation:	1831
First:	William Mackie (as Advocate-General)

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] 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]}

width=5	Order	width=225	Minister	width=75 colspan="2"	Party	width=75	Premier	width=300	Title	width=150	Term start	width=150	Term end	width=130	Time in office
		none	Advocate-General	1831	1834	years
		1834		1846	years
		Acting Advocate-General	1846	1847	years
	George Fletcher Moore	Advocate-General	1847	1852	years
		Acting Advocate-General	1852	1854	years
		Advocate-General	1854	1857	years
			1857	1859	years
	George Frederick Stone		1860	1870	years
	Robert John Walcott^[7] ^[8]	Attorney-General	4 November 1870	December 1872
	Sir Henry Hicks Hocking^[9]		December 1872
			30 June 1874	16 January 1875
	Henry Hicks Hocking		16 January 1875	25 February 1879
	Sir George Walpole Leake		1 March 1879	24 November 1879
			24 November 1879	21 March 1880
	Sir George Walpole Leake		21 March 1880	21 March 1881
			21 March 1881	9 April 1883
	Sir George Walpole Leake		9 April 1883	10 July 1883
			10 July 1883	18 June 1886
			19 June 1886	3 December 1886
			9 December 1886	December 1890
	Septimus Burt			none		29 December 1890	27 October 1897
						27 October 1897	20 March 1901
						25 March 1901	27 May 1901
						27 May 1901	21 November 1901
						21 November 1901	23 December 1901
	George Leake				Leake	23 December 1901	24 June 1902
						1 July 1902	10 August 1904
			Ministerialist		Attorney-General	14 May 1906	14 May 1909
			Ministerialist		Attorney-General	16 September 1910	7 October 1911
							7 October 1911	27 July 1916
						Wilson	27 July 1916
						17 May 1919	12 March 1921
				Nationalist	Mitchell	Attorney-General	24 April 1930	18 February 1933
				Labor			22 February 1933	8 April 1933
				Liberal		Attorney-General	1 April 1947	5 January 1948
							5 January 1948	23 February 1953
				Liberal		Attorney-General	2 April 1959	31 January 1962
				Labor		Attorney-General	3 March 1971	30 September 1971
							12 October 1971	8 April 1974
				Liberal		Attorney-General	22 December 1975	25 January 1982
					25 January 1982		25 February 1983
				Labor			25 February 1983
				Liberal			16 February 1993	21 December 1995
							21 December 1995	16 February 2001
				Labor			16 February 2001
				Liberal			23 September 2008	12 June 2012
							28 June 2012	17 March 2017
				Labor				8 June 2023
					Cook		8 June 2023	incumbent

Notes and References

1. Web site: Justice Ministers of Western Australia. Parliamentary Library. Parliament of Western Australia. 27 April 2016. Perth, WA. 28 March 2013.
2. Web site: Barnett tried to keep Porter in WA. 12 June 2012.
3. News: Turnbull tells Q&A he didn't know extent of Christian Porter revelations. ABC News. 9 November 2020. Johnson. Paul.
4. Web site: Membership of the Legislative Council, 1832-70 . Parliament of Western Australia . 26 October 2014.
5. Web site: List of Australian Attorneys-General . Parliament of Australia . 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. News: Events of the Month. 16 September 2014. The Herald. 8 December 1870. Fremantle, WA.
8. News: Summary for the Mails. 16 September 2014. The Herald. 12 October 1872. Fremantle, WA. 3.
9. News: Arrival of the English and Colonial Mails. 16 September 2014. The Herald. 15 February 1873. Fremantle, WA. 3.