Gillian Triggs, the president of the Human Rights Commission, has told the Australian federal police she does not want to make a complaint or pursue an allegation that a job offer made to her on behalf of the attorney general, George Brandis, was an inducement constituting “corrupt and unlawful conduct”.
The shadow attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, asked the AFP to consider whether the offer had been made “with the object of affecting the leadership of the Australian Human Rights Commission to avoid political damage to the Abbott government”, which could mean it could “constitute corrupt and unlawful conduct”. The offer followed the angry reaction by the Coalition to the commission’s Forgotten Children report on children in immigration detention.
In a letter to Dreyfus last week, the police commissioner, Andrew Colvin, said the AFP had “thoroughly evaluated” the claim, including interviewing Professor Triggs.
“During that dialogue with Professor Triggs she stated she did not wish to make a complaint nor was she interested in pursuing this matter,” he wrote. “The evaluation did not identify evidence to support the allegation and consequently the AFP will not be taking any further action in relation to the matter.”
During a Senate estimates committee hearing in February, Triggs said she was “certainly very shaken and very shocked” at the resignation request and immediately rejected it, believing it would undermine the independence of the Human Rights Commission. She said she would not use the term inducement, but there was “no doubt” in her mind the resignation request and job offer “were connected”.
“I rejected it out of hand. I thought it was a disgraceful proposal,” she said.
At the time Tony Abbott and Brandis said they had lost confidence in Triggs and Abbott described the Forgotten Children report as a “blatantly partisan, politicised exercise” and a “political stitch up”.
In an interview with Guardian Australia, Triggs, who is part of the way through a five-year term, accused the Coalition of “profoundly” misunderstanding the role of the commission, and the Australian newspaper of running a concerted campaign to achieve the commission’s abolition. She also revealed the commission intended to concentrate more on “mainstream issues”, for example employment discrimination.
At the time the job offer became public the Senate censured Brandis for failing to defend Triggs and for “seeking to facilitate her resignation” by offering her another role. Brandis always denied the offer was an inducement and said he had “high personal regard for Triggs”.
Commenting on the AFP’s decision, Dreyfus said he understood Triggs “would want to put this matter behind her. In choosing not to pursue this matter, she has demonstrated a professionalism and integrity sadly lacking in those who attacked her.”
Triggs is scheduled to give evidence before a Senate estimates committee again on Thursday. In the Guardian Australia interview she criticised the committee’s chairman, senator Ian MacDonald.
“He needs to explain himself. He needs to explain his role. He needs to answer why he allows the level of badgering at committee hearings, the length of the hearings and the belligerent nature of the questioning,” she said.
“It seems they are searching for anything that they can find to damage the commission and me. [Macdonald] consistently allows the senators’ questions to be oriented towards attacking the commission.”
Asked in February about his views on Triggs, MacDonald told Sky News he had lost confidence in her because he believed the Forgotten Children report to be partisan.
“I’ve lost confidence in Ms Triggs. I think she is a lovely lady and a competent international lawyer but anything the Human Rights Commission does from now on will, in my mind, be tainted. Now others have different views. I can only talk of my view but my view is the commission is tainted, it destroys the good work it has in the past done and you know one would hope that, something obviously needs to be, done that restores the bipartisan faith in what should be a completely bipartisan balanced commission.”
Asked whether that meant the commission needed a new president he said: “Well I just don’t think it’s going to recover if it continues as it is.”
