Qld appoints new solicitor-general

A senior barrister who was involved in an inquest into two missing American divers has been appointed Queensland's new solicitor-general.

Peter Dunning, QC, replaces Walter Sofronoff who was involved in a public stoush with Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie last month.

A week after Mr Sofronoff resigned in March, he called for Mr Bleijie to step down after the Attorney-General revealed details of a private conversation with Court of Appeal president Margaret McMurdo.

Mr Dunning has been a barrister since 1992 and has been counsel in a number of inquiries and inquests, including Queensland's flood inquiry and the inquest into missing American divers, Tom and Eileen Lonergan, who disappeared off Port Douglas, north of Cairns, in 1998.