More wrongs than rights at the Australian Human Rights Commission?

Australia's Race Discrimination Commissioner, Giridharan Sivaraman. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

An interesting bit of mail out of the Australian Human Rights Commission that hints at the curious priorities of its leadership, namely Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman, a hand-picked appointee of Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus.

Sivaraman was still getting his feet under the desk in March when Jewish Liberal MP Julian Leeser whacked the AHRC for its failure to address anti-Semitism, Leeser arguing that the whole organisation had “gone AWOL” since the October 7 attacks in Israel and been “frozen by political paralysis”. And that was well before any synagogues were being set on fire.

Sivaraman still doesn’t seem to quite get it on the anti-Semitism problem, judging by an interview he gave to SBS this week about the Melbourne synagogue fire and another attack in Sydney’s Woollahra.

“We’ve heard about an increase in anti-Semitism across this year, but we’ve also heard (about) an increase in other forms of racism this year as well, and racism remains a pervasive and systemic problem in our society,” Sivaraman said, seeming to downplay the whole thing.

But back to the emails! Much light is cast on the pervading shell-shock at the AHRC following Leeser’s broadside of March 12.

Writing to former AHRC president Rosalind Croucher and CEO Leanne Smith on March 14, Sivaraman said he would expedite his proposed engagements with Jewish community groups, if only to address a political snag.

“Now at least, when the inevitable question comes up in Estimates, I’ll be able to say I met with Jewish communities as a priority to hear their concerns on anti-Semitism,” Sivaraman said.

Yes, because that’s the job, right? To cover one’s ass ahead of Senate estimates, not to, y’know, seek genuine engagement with an at-risk community.

“More broadly, I’d like to talk with you both about what we do when we get attacked like just occurred (sic). I don’t like the idea of our critics dictating to how we act (sic),” Sivaraman said, which is funny because Leeser’s criticism was borne not of the AHRC’s actions but its distinct lack of action.

Croucher, whose tenure ended in July, offered a simple formula for dealing with political attacks. “The basic rule,” she said, “is go high, reach out, listen, apologise if warranted then focus forward.”

Simple, yes. Echoes of Michelle Obama? Yes. Sincere and genuine? We have no idea.

The AHRC told us in defence of Sivaraman that he’s held 16 meetings with Jewish leaders and community members in the nine months since he started at the commission, plus he’s also conducting project work on racism at universities “in the aftermath of October 7”, all of which, it said, demonstrates “his commitment to addressing the very serious issue of anti-Semitism”. YB

Poll position

How close is Anthony Albanese to setting a polling date for the next election? Closer every day, we hear.

The latest sign is a conversation overheard between Labor staffers at Sydney airport discussing a trip to the party’s campaign headquarters (CHQ) in Sydney, and complaining they would get only a short break over the festive season.

Labor has been renting the Surry Hills office space for about a year, and has spent the last few weeks stress-testing its IT and other systems as planning for next year’s election ramps up.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, WA Premier Roger Cook and Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti. Picture: NewsWire / Sharon Smith

Albanese announced candidates for the key Melbourne seats of Calwell, Deakin and Menzies this week, largely completing the party’s major preselection round.

Signs that staff are beginning to move through the party’s Sydney CHQ very much suggest Labor will start the new year on a war footing, whether a firm date is yet set in Albanese’s mind or not.

With the Liberals renting office space in Parramatta for their own CHQ, the election looms as the most Sydney-focused since the Howard era, when “what would western Sydney think?” was the most important question in any policy announcement.

Sydney’s restrictive flight curfews have made it a less preferred setting for the Liberal and National HQ for the last few elections, given the difficulty of getting late night flights in and out of the city. But Parramatta is relatively easy driving distance from Canberra, at a pinch, and Peter Dutton clearly believes he has the Queensland vote sewn up.

Another sign that March 8 is looming as a likely date is the fact that the WA Labor machine is seemingly running a little behind their federal peers. WA’s fixed-term elections also put the date of the state election at March 8 – but Premier Roger Cook confirmed in November he’d sought legal advice about whether that could be changed if Albo called a Federal poll for the same date.

And Margin Call hears that WA Labor only recently ran its own election war games – what do we do if King Charles dies during the campaign? How do we react if an MP gets done for drink driving? And exactly how many loonies have we preselected in unwinnable seats this time round? That sort of thing.

That’s arguably a little late for the state party that knows it’s going to the polls in only a couple of months, but makes a bit more sense if there’s a sense that Albo wants the day for a Federal poll. NE

Arty approach

Let’s face it, no bona fide Commonwealth agency can go without a large piece of Aboriginal art in the office foyer, or slapped onto the title page of the annual report.

Hence why the Paul Brereton-led National Anti-Corruption Commission is moving to buy a First Nations piece of craftwork for its buildings, according to an internal project document that we’ve discovered.

The document’s creator is the Queensland-based design agency Gilimbaa, founded by David Williams, whose works have been commissioned by Woolworths, Thales Australia, BP, Australia Post, and just about every federal government department in the land.

Williams offers a choice of a bespoke piece of art for $40,000 or a “motif” option at roughly half the price. The NACC’s gone with the el cheapo “motif artwork” for $21,758, or so it says on the invoice.

We wondered if the piece would be displayed in the Canberra HQ, but apparently it’s a digital work and so, according to a spokesman, it’s destined to be “printed and displayed in any or every Commission office”. Joy!

And why is the NACC doing this? Apart from engaging with First Nations communities, it said the artwork will align with its corporate identity, mission, and reflect “our commitment to an inclusive approach to anti-corruption efforts”. Whatever that hell that means. YB