Gillian Triggs: Tony Abbott says Government has lost confidence in Human Rights Commission president

Updated

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says his Government has lost confidence in Human Rights Commission (HRC) president Gillian Triggs.

Tensions between the Government and the HRC have been on public display recently, with Mr Abbott saying the commission's damning report into children in detention was "a blatantly partisan, politicised exercise".

Professor Triggs revealed this morning during a Senate estimates hearing that the secretary of Attorney-General George Brandis's department had asked her to resign during a meeting on February 3.

Senator Brandis then confirmed to Senate estimates he had lost confidence in Professor Triggs and wanted her to resign, saying the commission "has to be like Caesar's wife" and "beyond blemish".

Who is Gillian Triggs?

Attended University of Melbourne, earning Bachelor of Laws (1967) and Doctor of Philosophy (1982)

Earned Master of Laws from Southern Methodist University in Texas while working as legal adviser to Chief of Police

Joined law firm Mallesons Stephen Jaques in 1987, working as a consultant in international law

Practised as barrister in Sydney and was Professor at Melbourne Law School (1996-2005)

Director of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (2005-2007)

Director of the Institute for Comparative and International Law at the University of Melbourne

Became Dean of the University of Sydney Law School in 2007

Retired as Dean in July 2012 to take up HRC appointment

Was Acting Race Discrimination Commissioner from July 2012 to August 2013

Launched National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention in February 2014

Mr Abbott confirmed in Question Time the Government no longer had confidence in Professor Triggs.

"It's absolutely crystal clear this inquiry by the president of the Human Rights Commission is a political stitch-up," he said.

"All I know Madam Speaker is that this Government has lost confidence in the president of the Human Rights Commission."

Professor Triggs told Senate estimates the purpose of the February 3 meeting "was to deliver a request from the Attorney".

"And what was the nature of that request?" Labor senator Jacinta Collins asked.

"The nature of that request was to ask for my resignation," Professor Triggs said.

She said she was deeply shocked by the request and rejected it.

"My answer was that I have a five-year statutory position, which is designed for the president of the Human Rights Commission specifically to avoid political interference in the exercise of my tasks under the Human Rights Commission Act," she said.

Professor Triggs also testified that the secretary, Chris Moraitis, told her she would be offered another job if she did.

She described the offer as "entirely inappropriate".

"I don't recall the precise words but I know that he said that I would be offered other work with the Government," she said.

She testified she felt her resignation would risk the integrity and independence of the HRC.

Mr Moraitis has a different recollection of the meeting with Professor Triggs.

He said he did not ask Professor Triggs for her resignation but confirmed he told her Senator Brandis had lost confidence in her and that they discussed the possibility of her taking on another government role.

Senator Brandis said he lost confidence in Professor Triggs in mid-January.

"It saddens me to say that because as Professor Triggs herself has said, our relationship has never been anything other than cordial," he said.

"But after the November [Senate] estimates — when on any view Professor Triggs gave inconsistent and evasive evidence on the circumstances in which the decision was made to hold the inquiry which we have been discussing, in particular when Professor Triggs conceded that she had made a decision to hold the inquiry after the 2013 election and had spoken during the caretaker period, quite inappropriately, with two Labor ministers, a fact concealed from the then-opposition — I felt that the political impartiality of the commission had been fatally compromised.

"The Human Rights Commission has to be like Caesar's wife, it has to be beyond blemish."

Government should not shoot the messenger: backbencher

Liberal backbencher Craig Laundy has raised concerns about his Government's treatment of Professor Triggs.

In a party room meeting today, the member for Reid told Mr Abbott the Government should not "shoot the messenger".

Several sources said Mr Laundy urged the Government to focus on its policy success in stopping the boats and continue to get more children out of detention.

The ABC has been told Mr Abbott responded to Mr Laundy's question.

The Prime Minister reportedly said the Government had to call people out when it thought it was being treated unfairly.

It is understood Mr Laundy told colleagues he was just echoing the concerns of people in his electorate.

Policies of both parties harm children in detention: Triggs

In her opening address to the Senate committee, Professor Triggs moved to make it clear she believed both Labor and Coalition policies harmed children in detention.

"The bipartisan nature of government responsibility for this damage is clear on any fair reading of this report," she said.

The HRC report, titled The Forgotten Children, found immigration detention was a "dangerous place for children" and called for a royal commission into the practice of putting asylum seeker children into mandatory detention.

From January 2013 to March 2014 the HRC found there were 233 assaults in detention involving children, 33 incidents of reported sexual assault, with the majority involving children, and 128 children who harmed themselves.

The Government said it was committed to removing all children from detention and that under the previous Labor government the number of children in detention reached almost 2,000.

Senator Brandis told the committee 129 children remained in mainland detention and 116 children remained detained on Nauru.

Topics: human, rights, federal-parliament, federal-government, immigration, refugees, children, australia

First posted