Senator's secret inquiry hearing bid fails

A Liberal senator has unsuccessfully sought to hold an inquiry into a spat between the attorney-general and solicitor-general in secret.

Senator Ian Macdonald said he did not want the public hearing - which involves taking evidence from Senator George Brandis and Justin Gleeson - to be seen as the "politicisation of the position of solicitor-general".

After a 10-minute meeting in private on Friday, the committee decided the hearing should go ahead in public.