Former attorney-general George Brandis departed Parliament on Wednesday with an outgoing swipe at cabinet nemesis Peter Dutton and other right-wingers in Coalition ranks.

After 18 years in Parliament and 11 on the frontbench, Senator Brandis lamented that "being a liberal is not easy" - even in the Liberal Party, in which he was a giant of the moderate faction.

He observed "powerful elements of right-wing politics" had abandoned the liberal tradition in favour of "a belligerent, intolerant populism which shows no respect for either the rights of individual citizens or the traditional institutions which protect them".

Senator Brandis is congratulated by Mitch Fifield and Marise Payne. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Senator Brandis did not name Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton in his speech, but delivered a pointed barb at Mr Dutton's recent disparaging of "un-Australian" lawyers and "weak" judges.