Brandis blasts use of funds to fight Leak cartoon case

George Brandis has attacked a legal service for using its scarce funds to chase a legal case against cartoonist Bill Leak.

Attorney-General George Brandis ­says it is important that legal aid providers use their funding carefully. Picture: AAP

The federal Attorney-General, George Brandis, has attacked the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia for using its scarce funds to chase a legal case on behalf of two indigenous men against cartoonist Bill Leak.

Despite facing major funding cuts, the service spent thousands of dollars to send a senior lawyer 2500km from Perth to Fitzroy Crossing to take complaints under the Racial Discrimination Act about the cartoon after it was published in The Australian in ­August.

Two Aboriginal men, Bruce Till and Kevin Gunn, have said they signed complaints about the cartoon after being approached by a man they identified from a photo as Paul Gazia, the Perth-based head of the ALS’s civil and human rights unit.

They said he had asked them for their views about the cartoon before preparing statements to be sent to the Australian Human Rights Commission. The men are seeking compensation, an apology and censorship of Leak.

Senator Brandis said he ­believed it was important that legal aid providers used their funding carefully to service clients “with the greatest need and in the most vulnerable situations”.

“I have serious doubts that the pursuit of a political cartoonist is the best use of the WA Aboriginal Legal Service’s limited resources,” the Attorney-General said.

His comments come after some Liberal MPs raised concerns about the ALS’s activism for allegedly scouting for complaints against the cartoon.

His criticism also coincided with the withdrawal of the original complaint against Leak’s cartoon by complainant Melissa Dinnison. The Australian Human Rights Commission wrote to The Australian’s lawyers on Friday, saying she “did not want to continue with her complaint”.

Ms Dinnison’s mother, Shiralee, said her daughter would issue a public statement “to an outlet of her choosing”, but gave no time­frame. “Her father and I have no comment. This has always been a private matter for Melissa.”

Ms Dinnison, who lived in Perth until ­recently, lodged her complaint to the commission online in August, claiming she had “experienced racial hatred” and been “discriminated against ­because of my race” as a result of the cartoon. In Facebook posts, she identified as “a light-skinned indigenous person”.

The ALS, which receives all of its grants through the Attorney-General’s Department, has ­declined to answer questions from The Australian, and yesterday a representative said chief executive Dennis Eggington was on pre-arranged leave.

Dr Eggington has previously defended his organisation’s role in the legal action, saying that the ­cartoon had the potential to incite ­racial hatred.

The ALS is set to lose about $800,000 in funding next year as part of federal budget cuts.

Journalism academic Joseph Fernandez from Perth’s Curtin University said last week he was disconcerted to see how easily the ALS had co-opted the two indig­enous men to make a complaint against the cartoon. He said the case “goes to the heart of 18C and what it takes for someone to feel insulted or ­offended today, and the answer seems to be not a lot”.