Gillian Triggs: Brandis keeps up criticism over execution, boat link

Peter Dutton says the human rights commission chief should apologise for linking Indonesian executions with boat turnbacks.

Attorney-General George Brandis is maintaining his criticism of Australian Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton says the Australian Human Rights Commission president should clarify the record and make a statement of apology over her comments that linked Indonesia’s position on the death penalty and the Coalition’s border control policy.

Gillian Triggs was last week pilloried by Mr Dutton and Attorney-General George Brandis after she claimed Indonesia had refused to engage with Canberra on the death penalty because officials in Jakarta disliked the turning back of asylum-seeker boats.

Professor Triggs subsequently denied her comments referred to the diplomatic row over the executions of the two Bali Nine drug smugglers, insisting it alluded to “the future need to work diplomatically to reach agreement on ending the death penalty in the region”.

“It’s a very serious matter,” Mr Dutton told 2GB radio on Thursday. “I thought it was a shameful exercise and I know she has stepped back a little on that.” He said there was no doubt in his mind that Professor Triggs was trying to make the link.

Senator Brandis rejected Professor Triggs’ claim that she never linked the executions of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran to the Coalition’s tough border policies.

Senator Brandis, asked today if he conceded there was no reference to Chan and Sukumaran, told ABC Radio: “I don’t concede that for a moment.

“She talked about Australia’s engagement with Indonesia on the question of the death penalty and the main conversation in this country about the death penalty in Indonesia in recent months, as we all know, had to do with the executions of Chan and Sukumaran, so I don’t regret what Mr Dutton and I said in that statement at all.”

Senator Brandis said the AHRC president was entitled to voice her opinion, but they needed “to be an opinion informed by facts”.

“To link Australia’s turnback policy to our capacity to engage with Indonesia on death penalty issues was plainly wrong,” he said.

Professor Triggs last week told a forum in Adelaide that nobody could disagree with the need to stop refugees drowning at sea.

“Boats have got to stop,” she said. “But have we thought about what the consequences are of pushing people back to our neighbour Indonesia? Is it any wonder that Indonesia will not engage with us on other issues that we care about, like the death penalty?”

Senator Brandis repeated the Coalition’s position that it had lost confidence in Professor Triggs as president of the commission.

“It saddens me to say this but the fact is … the Human Rights Commission in my view is an important national institution but it has to be like Caesar’s wife — it must both be and be seen to be above partisan politics,” he told ABC Radio.

“I’m afraid that Professor Triggs’ decision to delay holding an inquiry into the issue of children in detention — all of whom were put into detention by a Labor government — until after the Labor Party had left office can only be interpreted, and has been interpreted by many, many people in Australia, as an act that looked partisan.”

Social Services Minister Scott Morrison added that the Coalition was still dealing with “the significant border protection failures of the previous government’’.

“one of the things I was most pleased about when I was minister for immigration was that we were able to dramatically reduce the number of children that were in held detention - that was a goal we have and a goal we achieved,’’ Mr Morrison said after addressing the national No Interest Loan Scheme conference in Sydney today.

Mr Morrison agreed that Professor Triggs had acted in a partisan manner which had rubbed off on the standing of the Australian Human Rights Commission.

“The great disappointment with Gillian Triggs is I don’t think the institution which she serves has been elevated as a result of her tenure - and I think that’s a disappointment for the institution,” he said.

“I think when people engage in such a partisan way sadly that is the inevitable outcome, I think it rubs off on the standing of the institution and I think that’s unfortunate.

“The issues I’ve engaged with Professor Triggs on in the past they’ve been dealt with, the boats have stopped - she opposed those policies and history will be the judge of those things.

“And I think Australians were very pleased we were able to stop the deaths at seas and stop the number of people pouring into the country illegally that was occurring and that matter I’m pleased has been set to rest.”

Additional reporting: AAP