Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Professor Triggs told estimates last week that there was no doubt in her mind that the pressure to resign and the offer of an alternative position were connected.

That is what Professor Triggs told this Senate. This is the most underhanded piece of business imaginable—a heavy-handed attempt to pressure a statutory officeholder into quitting by unleashing the bullies then claiming to have no confidence in her, while simultaneously offering an alternative position. That is what this Attorney-General and this government have done.

It is quite clear we have seen a hysterical and partisan campaign from the government. We have seen the same senators who sought to interrupt me again on this occasion running hard against Professor Triggs. We then saw the Prime Minister join in. Then the Attorney, who should be defending the commission, very conspicuously had nothing to say. Then came Senator Brandis's big play: he made Professor Triggs an offer she could not refuse, he thought. Too bad about the damage to the independence of the commission; too bad about the damage to Australia's reputation on human rights—and all because Senator Brandis wanted to deliver a scalp. The same people—