Portfolio — 6 April 2026

The Attorney-General's most significant announcement on 6 April was the Government's intention to recommend Dr Ruth Higgins SC as the next Solicitor-General of the Commonwealth — the first woman ever to hold the office [TA-260406-attorn-e80f84ba59c1]. Dr Higgins will commence a five-year term on 8 June 2026, bringing over 20 years of legal experience including close to a decade as senior counsel, with a record spanning the High Court and Federal Court, the presidency of the NSW Bar Association, and directorships of the Australian Bar Association and Law Council of Australia [TA-260406-attorn-54ec27ac464e].

Beyond the appointment, the Attorney-General canvassed a wide reform agenda. On wagering, she described the Prime Minister's advertising restrictions announced the previous week as the most significant reforms ever undertaken to curb gambling harms, citing advertising caps, ad-free live sport, field-of-play advertising restrictions in stadia, and a framework organised around protecting children, severing the nexus between wagering and sport, and addressing advertising saturation [TA-260406-attorn-54ec27ac464e].

On copyright and artificial intelligence, the Attorney-General confirmed the Government has ruled out a text-and-data-mining exception to copyright law — a position she noted the United Kingdom has also now adopted — while stating the existing Copyright Act remains workable and that rights holders can enter into licensing agreements under it, with further consultation on AI-era improvements continuing [TA-260406-attorn-54ec27ac464e].

On freedom of information, the Attorney-General stated bluntly that the current system is broken, flagging its inability to distinguish nefarious requests from legitimate ones in an AI context as a specific failure. She committed to returning to Parliament with a revised proposal after the earlier bill was shelved in the Senate, framing FOI reform as part of the Government's broader integrity and transparency agenda.

On the national gun buyback scheme, she reaffirmed the Government's position that states and territories must sign up, expressing confidence that the scheme's public support will bring them on board.

The Attorney-General also confirmed visitor visas for two Islamic preachers were cancelled immediately upon discovery of antisemitic comments, stating the Government has zero tolerance for hate preaching and would apply the same standard to others — a matter with a Home Affairs dimension given the visa cancellation mechanism. Responding to polling showing 9 per cent of Labor voters from the last election switching to One Nation, she framed the Government's response as delivery-focused, describing Labor as occupying the sensible centre against three right-wing parties, and pointed to cost-of-living action and cabinet discipline as the electoral answer.

Taken together, the Attorney-General's media activity on this date signals a portfolio frame built on institutional integrity — an historic legal appointment, a firm copyright posture aligned with international peers, a recommitment to FOI reform despite a Senate setback, and a zero-tolerance line on hate speech — while using the wagering and gun buyback announcements to reinforce the Government's consumer-protection and public-safety credentials.