Gillian Triggs urged to retract boat link to Bali executions by Peter Dutton

Peter Dutton says it is a “complete disgrace” for Gillian Triggs to link boat turn-backs to Indonesia’s Bali executions.

Australian Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs has been urged to retract her statement linking boat turn-backs with the Bali Nine duo executions.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton says it is a “complete disgrace” for Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs to link boat turn-backs to Indonesia’s execution of the Bali Nine duo.

Mr Dutton called on the head of the human rights watchdog to “front the cameras today” and retract her “outrageous slurs”.

He urged her to consider the families of the two men, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, who were killed in April by firing squad on Nusakambangan island off the Cilacap coast in central Java for drug trafficking.

“To suggest somehow that the government stopping the boats and stopping the deaths at sea, that somehow that has a link to the execution of the two men in Indonesia is completely without foundation,” he said.

“And it is offensive of course to the government, to the Australian public but, most of all, it’s offensive to the families of the two men involved.”

Mr Dutton said Professor Triggs had an important role as head of Australia’s human rights watchdog, but suggested she had strayed beyond her responsibilities.

“I think Professor Triggs has a very important responsibility. She holds a quasi-judicial office. A very important office in our country. And for her to be out there making these unfounded statements is a complete disgrace…. She should get back to her core business.”

Professor Triggs made the connection of the boat turn-backs to Indonesia executing Chan and Sukumaran during comments made to a Committee for Economic Development of Australia forum in Adelaide.

“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?”