of this was a majority of the Committee being in accordance with Gleeson’s perspective that Brandis did not properly consult Gleeson. Gleeson in his resignation letter expressed that the Commonwealth is best served when the Law Officers completely trust each other and have a “mutually respectful relationship” which he described as being broken with Brandis. Notable Involvements Gair Affair In 1974 Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam offered Queensland Senator Vince Gair the position of ambassador to the Republic of Ireland and the Vatican. Whitlam is believed to have hoped that Gair’s resignation, which was required having accepted the post, would allow Labor to contest and win his vacant seat in the upcoming half-Senate election, in turn gaining a majority in the Senate. In what later became known as “The Night of Long Prawns” Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen issued the writs for the Queensland senate seats for the half-Senate election before Gair was able to formally resign meaning that his seat would not be in contention. Solicitor-General at the time Maurice Byers offered the legal opinion that Gair was no longer a senator and had effectively resigned at either the date that the Executive Council approved the post or the date that Ireland accepted his ambassadorship. Importantly, Byers remarked that both of these dates preceded Bjelke-Petersen issuing the writs. This was responded to by the Opposition who proposed that the government had not opposed Gair being involved in Senate debates and votes at any point before the writs for the half-Senate election were issued. This matter ultimately concluded by Whitlam enacting a double dissolution nullifying the half-Senate election as all seats were in contention. Case Concerning East Timor In 1991, Portugal commenced international legal proceedings against Australia in the International Court of Justice concerning East Timor and submitted that Australia had failed to respect the right of the people of East Timor to self-determination. Also, that Australia had failed to respect Portugal as the Administering Power of East Timor. Gavan Griffith, the Commonwealth Solicitor-General at the time acted as agent and counsel for the Commonwealth. This case concluded with the court finding that it could not make a ruling in part as a result of Griffith on behalf of the Commonwealth submitting that the Court should also rule upon Indonesia’s actions, however, Indonesia’s absence exceeded the court’s jurisdiction. Australian Parliamentary Eligibility Crisis of 2017-18 In 2017-18 seven senators and members in