PRIME Minister Tony Abbott’s sustained attacks on one of the country’s top legal minds has once again placed his leadership on shaky ground.
Leadership tensions have been reignited this week, with Malcolm Turnbull openly contradicting statements by Mr Abbott and Labor launching a stinging new attack painting the PM as an aggressive bully.
Mr Abbott’s latest headache comes down to his political judgment over one issue: His incendiary comments about the Human Rights Commission president, Professor Gillian Triggs.
The report was critical of both sides of politics’ treatment of minors under Australian care, but the government claims the “politicised” document was released at a time when it would inflict maximum political damage on Mr Abbott.
Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs has been in the hot seat at Senate Estimates this week. Picture: Gary Ramage Source: News Corp Australia
Now, there are claims that the Attorney-General’s department bribed Prof Triggs to resign from her post as head of the independent Human Rights Commission.
Labor has asked the Australian Federal Police to investigate whether Attorney-General George Brandis and department secretary Chris Moraitis broke the law when they suggested in January that Prof Triggs stand down to take up an alternative role elsewhere in the government.
During a tense Senate Estimates hearing on Tuesday, Mr Moraitis said Senator Brandis asked him to “formally put on the table or mention that there would be a senior legal role, a specific senior role, that her skills could be used for”.
Prof Triggs told the hearing that she “thought it was a disgraceful proposal”, while Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said, “This sounds like a bribe”.
Attorney-General George Brandis says Gillian Triggs was “encouraged … to serve the government in other capacities”. Picture: Gary Ramage Source: News Corp Australia
But in a fiery Question Time yesterday, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop contradicted this evidence, saying “no such (job) offer was made”.
Mr Abbott repeated his criticisms yesterday, telling reporters: “The government has lost confidence in Gillian Triggs. What she does is a matter for her.
“But as the secretary of the Attorney-General’s department has made clear, she was not asked to resign and no inducement has been offered.”
Meanwhile, Senator Brandis accused Prof Triggs of a “catastrophic error of judgment”, saying he felt the political impartiality of the commission had been “fatally compromised”.
Mr Abbott’s chief rival for the country’s top job, Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, made a thinly veiled swipe at the PM when speaking to reporters yesterday.
He refused to back Mr Abbott’s sustained criticisms of Prof Triggs and instead took the opportunity to praise her.
“I’ve known her for some years. She’s a very distinguished legal academic, but this debate about Gillian Triggs misses the main point … The issue is not Gillian Triggs, or personalities, or arguments about the Human Rights Commission, the issue is the children. All of us as parents in particular know how anguished it must be for children to be in these circumstances,” Mr Turnbull said.
Man most likely … Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Source: News Corp Australia
The Communications Minister also contradicted his leader over Liberal Party finances. Mr Turnbull supported calls for greater transparency over party donations yesterday, something Mr Abbott had earlier dismissed as “a storm in a teacup”.
The former Liberal leader has been highly visible in the media over the past fortnight, which insiders have characterised as an attempt to distinguish himself from Mr Abbott’s hard-line approach.
Insiders say Mr Turnbull tried to pitch himself as a more nuanced leader during his
high-profile appearance on ABC TV’s Q&A last week, when he remarked that politicians should treat voters with more respect and not “slogan at them”.
In an effort to pass a censure motion against the government over the Human Rights Commission furore, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten repeatedly referred to Mr Abbott and Senator Brandis as “powerful men” trying to “bully and intimidate” Prof Triggs.
“I believe that Australians are sick and tired of an angry Tony Abbott,” Mr Shorten said.
Tony Abbott has dismissed much of the discussion of the Gillian Triggs issue as “insider Canberra gossip”. Picture: Gary Ramage Source: News Corp Australia
Mr Abbott dismissed Mr Shorten as being obsessed with “Canberra insider gossip”.
As the fallout from the Triggs issue continues,
Fairfax reports this morning that the Liberal’s Coalition partner, The Nationals, are preparing for a Turnbull prime ministership.
Much of the content of the
Human Rights Commission report, which includes shocking detail about the sexual abuse of children in detention, has been lost.
The commission’s 10-month inquiry found prolonged immigration detention caused significant mental and physical illness, while hundreds of assaults and 128 cases of self-harm were reported between January 2013 and March 2014. It also uncovered 33 reports of sexual assault.
