In 1930, shortly before the Statute was enacted, the Labor Prime Minister James Scullin recommended Sir Isaac Isaacs (then the Chief Justice of Australia) as the Governor-General of Australia, to replace Lord Stonehaven. This was a departure from previous practice whereby the British monarch, acting on the advice of the British prime minister, would offer the Australian prime minister a number of choices for the position. However, the Australian prime minister, acting in line with the principles of the Balfour Declaration permitting Dominion governments to look after their own affairs, insisted on the appointment of Isaacs. Although King George V disapproved of Isaacs, the 1930 Imperial Conference upheld the procedure under the declaration, and so the King appointed Isaacs. The other Dominions supported this demonstration of political independence.