The Senate has passed a motion expressing confidence in Gillian Triggs and the Human Rights Commission after the motion gained cross-party support.
The Greens-led motion had the backing of Labor, the Palmer United party and independent senator Jacqui Lambie.
It makes four points:
- Commends the commission and its president Triggs for delivering the Forgotten Children report
- Acknowledges that allegations of abuse outlined in the report have been referred to police
- Respects the independence of the commission
- Expresses support and confidence in the commission and Triggs
“Many Australians have been appalled by the Abbott government’s hysterical attack on the Human Rights Commission and now the Senate has taken a stand,” Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.
“The Forgotten Children report raised serious issues about the abuse and sexual assault of children in Australian-run detention centres. It’s time to end the political punch-up and focus on protecting the children who are locked up in Australia and on Nauru.”
“We can only tackle the issue of abuse in detention by working together, across party lines,” Hanson-Young said.
Triggs has come under immense pressure following the report, which is scathing on the effect that mandatory detention has on asylum seeker children.
The government has rejected the report as partisan and unbalanced, grilling Triggs during a recent Senate estimates committee.
Triggs said that attorney general George Brandis requested through an official that she resign, in what Labor calls a “very serious allegation”.
