George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

And that fact I consider is something that the Australian public are entitled to know. They are also entitled to an explanation as to why. The genesis of that loss of confidence is the November Senate estimates committee, when Professor Triggs, given numerous opportunities to do so, was unable to explain why it was that the holding of the inquiry into children in immigration detention was delayed so that it did not commence before the 2013 election. That could only be seen as protecting the interests of one side of politics. We heard from Professor Triggs in the November estimates that she had already decided in 2012 that there should be such an inquiry, but she decided to delay it until after the 2013 election. As I wrote in The Australian on Friday:

… her decision to delay holding an inquiry into children in immigration detention so that it did not begin until after the 2013 election created the justifiable perception that the interests of one side of politics were being protected.

I can tell you as a matter of plain fact that it did create that perception, because there are numerous colleagues on my side of politics from the most senior levels down who consider that decision to have been political, who consider that decision to have been a decision based upon political partisanship.

We have heard a lot of erroneous commentary—by people who are unfamiliar with the relevant legal principles—that the Human Rights Commission should be treated like a court. Senator Wong, if the Human Rights Commission, as you would say, should be treated like a court then the Human Rights Commission and the President of the Human Rights Commission should apply to themselves the selfsame principles that judges apply to themselves when deciding whether or not to recuse themselves from a case. There is a well-developed body of legal principle about real or apprehended bias, so that if there is a reasonable apprehension of bias a judge should not proceed. I disagree with your premise, but if the Human Rights Commission ought to be treated as being analogous to a court then the principles of apprehended bias should apply to it as well. There can be no doubt at all that there has been a collapse in confidence in the impartiality of Professor Gillian Triggs on my side of politics.