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.
The current Attorney-General of Western Australia, since 19 March 2025, is Tony Buti who administers the portfolio through the Department of Justice and a range of other agencies.
One of Buti's predecessors Christian Porter went on to become Federal Attorney General.
List This is a list of Attorneys-General of Western Australia, or any precedent titles. 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.E. M. Russell, ‘Early Lawyers of Western Australia’, Journal and Proceedings (Western Australian Historical Society), vol 4, part 3, 1951, pp 32-53 Order Minister Party Premier Title Term start Term end Time in office William Mackie none Advocate-General 1831 1834 years George Fletcher Moore 1834 1846 years Richard West Nash Acting Advocate-General 1846 1847 years () George Fletcher Moore Advocate-General 1847 1852 years B. W. Vigors Acting Advocate-General 1852 1854 years George Frederick Stone Advocate-General 1854 1857 years Richard Burnie 1857 1859 years () George Frederick Stone 1860 1870 years Robert John Walcott Attorney-General 4 November 1870 December 1872 Sir Henry Hicks Hocking December 1872 Sir George Walpole Leake 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 Edward Albert Stone 24 November 1879 21 March 1880 () Sir George Walpole Leake 21 March 1880 21 March 1881 Alexander Onslow 21 March 1881 9 April 1883 () Sir George Walpole Leake 9 April 1883 10 July 1883 Alfred Hensman 10 July 1883 18 June 1886 Septimus Burt 19 June 1886 3 December 1886 Charles Warton 9 December 1886 December 1890 () Septimus Burt none Forrest 29 December 1890 27 October 1897 Richard Pennefather 27 October 1897 20 March 1901 William Sayer Throssell 25 March 1901 27 May 1901 George Leake Leake 27 May 1901 21 November 1901 Frederick Moorhead Morgans 21 November 1901 23 December 1901 () George Leake Leake 23 December 1901 24 June 1902 Walter James James 1 July 1902 10 August 1904 Norbert Keenan Ministerialist Moore Attorney-General 14 May 1906 14 May 1909 John Nanson Ministerialist Wilson Attorney-General 16 September 1910 7 October 1911 Thomas Walker Labor Scadden 7 October 1911 27 July 1916 Robert Robinson Liberal Wilson 27 July 1916 Nationalist Lefroy Colebatch Thomas Draper Mitchell 17 May 1919 12 March 1921 Thomas Davy Nationalist Mitchell Attorney-General 24 April 1930 18 February 1933 Hubert Parker Labor Collier 22 February 1933 8 April 1933 Robert Ross McDonald Liberal McLarty Attorney-General 1 April 1947 5 January 1948 Arthur Abbott 5 January 1948 23 February 1953 Arthur Watts Liberal Brand Attorney-General 2 April 1959 31 January 1962 Ron Bertram Labor Tonkin Attorney-General 3 March 1971 30 September 1971 Tom Evans 12 October 1971 8 April 1974 Ian Medcalf Liberal Court Attorney-General 22 December 1975 25 January 1982 O'Connor 25 January 1982 25 February 1983 Joe Berinson Labor Burke 25 February 1983 Dowding Lawrence Cheryl Edwardes Liberal Court 16 February 1993 21 December 1995 Peter Foss 21 December 1995 16 February 2001 Jim McGinty Labor Gallop 16 February 2001 Carpenter Christian Porter Liberal Barnett 23 September 2008 12 June 2012 Michael Mischin 28 June 2012 17 March 2017 John Quigley Labor McGowan 8 June 2023 Cook8 June 202319 March 2025 Tony Buti 19 March 2025 incumbent
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