If I were attorney-general of the Commonwealth after Saturday’s election there is one person I would seek to emulate, the Whitlam era’s Lionel Murphy.

Murphy, the most reformist attorney-general in Australian history. Think legal aid, the Family Law Act, trade practices legislation and an attempt to pass a human rights act. His brief period in office, 1972 to early 1975, when he took up a seat on the High Court, was impressive in its scope.

Since Murphy, attorneys-general have been, at best, implementers of incremental reform, devoid of big-picture vision.

Yet there is so much to be done.

Take the urgent need for a human rights act. The Rudd Government looked at it, but backed off because of opposition from conservatives like Cardinal George Pell, and members of the ALP. It is also fair to say it was too timid to take on what would have been a relentless scare campaign from the Murdoch press.

But Australia today is a nation where human rights are not protected. A nation that, in contrast to almost every other country in the world, refuses to accord its citizens fundamental rights enshrined in law.

And speaking of human rights the attorney-general must be looking carefully at the issue of Australians who have, or are, fighting with the Israel Defence Force because it, on a daily basis, is committing war crimes and genocide in Gaza. All of those individuals should be interviewed on return to Australia and evidence gathered about their activities in the conflict. The attorney-general is responsible, ultimately, for ensuring that the Commonwealth Criminal Code provisions dealing with war crimes are enforced.

There must also be sanctions on Israel – a matter within the remit of the prime minister and the minister for foreign affairs, but in respect of which the attorney-general plays a key role.

On the domestic front, any attorney-general must address, in a serious and relentless way, the appalling fact that this nation jails more Indigenous people than any other nation. It is scandalous. Yet there has been no leadership by the Commonwealth in this space. It sits back while serial human rights abusers, in the form of state and territory governments, pander to votes in their jurisdiction, with the unstated intention, at least in the case of some like the Northern Territory, of locking up every Indigenous person they can. This practice tells you that critical race theory is on the money.

And, of course, those who are incarcerated are denied legal representation far too often. Legal aid services across the nation are running out of money. The Commonwealth needs to increase its funding dramatically. Far better to spend it on ensuring justice for marginalised Australians than wasting it on the paranoid China containment strategy.

If I were attorney-general, I would also be ridding Australia of the futile “war on drugs”. Drugs should be legal and regulated, or at the very least, possession and their use decriminalised. We spend billions each year on drug law enforcement for zero gain. As a judge once said to me, every time he sentences a drug trafficker, he just creates a vacancy in the market. The Commonwealth needs to lead the states and territories towards health-based treatments and support for individuals at risk of addiction. Reduce funding for the Australian Federal Police that is allocated to drug law enforcement and divert it to administering a scheme, both legislative and practical, that actually reduces drug use.

The other important project for an attorney-general is to advocate for a republic. This writer was campaign director for the Yes case in 1999 republic referendum. It was a lost opportunity for Australia to finally be fully independent in a constitutional and symbolic sense. To be tied to the UK monarch’s apron strings is absurd and embarrassing.

But there also needs to be, and here there is a link to Murphy, a revival of the Whitlam Government’s constitutional convention process. It was established in 1973 to consider amendments to the Constitution. That document reflects an Australia that no longer exists. It is timid and complex.

A reformed Constitution that recognises human rights and reflects this nation’s destiny — something like the much-acclaimed South African constitution — is sorely needed. The Commonwealth can, and should, show leadership in this case.

Finally, if I were attorney-general I would ensure there is compensation and support for those who are found to be wrongly convicted or who are found not guilty. While victims of crime rightly get such support, erstwhile defendants are forced to pick up their often broken lives and move on with life. This is patently unjust and it is the role of the Commonwealth to establish such a scheme for individuals who are charged under Commonwealth laws.

This is a big agenda. But as we saw with Murphy, it can be done.