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George Williams

George Williams AO is one of Australia’s leading constitutional lawyers, having worked for many years as an academic and as a barrister. He is the Dean, the Anthony Mason Professor and a Scientia Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales.

If these two are in constant conflict what hope for the party or the broader issue of tough policy decisions?

Abbott's reform manifesto is far from conservative

When Tony Abbott laid down his conservative manifesto last week, the immediate question was how this would affect the standing of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Less attention was paid to Abbott's alternative program for government. It includes a proposal for governments to bypass the Senate, which he described as the "mother of all reforms".

Labor is challenging Assistant Health Minister David Gillespie's eligibility to sit in Parliament

More MPs could be caught in disqualification trap

You might think that disqualification season is over. The High Court has heard and decided the cases of Rodney Culleton and Bob Day, barring both from taking up their seats in the Senate. The court has also refused an attempt by the Labor Party to disqualify Day's replacement, South Australia's new Family First senator Lucy Gichuhi.

Community legal centres across Australia help more than 215,000 people  each year,  preventing legal problems cascading ...

A state fix isn't enough to save community legal centres

When people think of a lawyer, they often have an image of someone who represents the rich and powerful. However, Australia has an army of lawyers who work on low wages to protect the disadvantaged and vulnerable. Many work for one of Australia's 190 non-profit community legal centres, which federal Attorney-General George Brandis announced will receive a 30 per cent funding cut from 1 July 2017.