Gillian Triggs hammered by student over 18C case on Q & A

Gillian Triggs heavily criticised after claiming Human Rights Commission did an excellent job handling the 18C case.

Gillian Triggs copped a grilling on Q and A. Picture: Supplied

Ex-human rights tsar Gillian Triggs has been confronted live on Q&A by one of the students at the centre of the Queensland University of Technology’s 18C scandal.

Professor Triggs said the Human Rights Commission did an “excellent job” in handling the case of three students accused of breaching the Racial Discrimination Act by a university librarian.

Complainant Cindy Prior said three students had written offensive Facebook posts aimed at her after they were refused entry to an indigenous-only computer lab.

“I think that in my own view the commission did an excellent job. We met all the statutory requirements,” Professor Triggs said.

.@GillianTriggs outlines where things went wrong @Simon_Breheny raises possible breaches of justice #QandA pic.twitter.com/NWVPbPkieB

— ABC Q&A (@QandA) December 4, 2017

Student Callum Thwaites told the Q&A audience the comments were made by a fake profile and he had never tried to use the lab.

“In hindsight do you think the stance of the new president, Professor (Rosalind) Croucher, of refusing to engage with the media on political topics, is more appropriate?” he asked the former HRC president.

The Federal Court ultimately threw out the case against Mr Thwaites and two other students in November last year but Mr Thwaites said his life has “nearly been destroyed” by the long running legal saga.

Professor Triggs said the commission had not approached the students because the University had asked to do it first and said it was a mistake.

“I’m deeply sorry for that ... there was an understanding that the students could be kept out of this. And that was the error and the difficulty in terms of managing this matter,” she said.

Mr Thwaites said he could not accept Professor Triggs’ explanation for the commission’s handling of his case.

“I can’t understand, Professor Triggs, how you think the commission acted excellently ... as a result of this, seven students nearly had their lives ruined,” he said.

Liberal senator Eric Abetz said the HRC should not have proceeded with Ms Prior’s complaint and said the commission had “gone mad with political correctness”.

“The process sadly is the punishment for people like Callum, even when they’ve done nothing wrong. Natural justice was clearly denied,” he said.

Labor senator Lisa Singh defended Professor Triggs and the HRC, and said section 18C was needed in a multicultural society.

“I don’t think it’s a bureaucracy going mad at all,” she said.

MILO

British far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos found an unlikely ally in Gillian Triggs with the ex-HRC president saying he should not be banned from Parliament House.

Mr Yiannopoulos has courted controversy for his anti-feminist and other far right views. He was banned from Twitter last year and was dumped by Brietbart News, run by former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, for a video where he appeared to endorse sex with teenage boys.

Professor Triggs said Mr Yiannopoulos would only get more oxygen from being banned from addressing parliament after the Senate tonight passed a motion condemning his upcoming visit at the invitation of Liberal Democrat senator David Leyonhjelm.

“The remarks this man is making are completely unacceptable ... I think the better thing to do is not to ban him, but just let him fizz out. The public will make their own judgments about this man,” she said.

Should we ban Milo Yiannopolous from speaking in parliament house? @Kate_McClymont @SenatorAbetz & @Lisa_Singh respond #QandA pic.twitter.com/8i66CQRMoT

— ABC Q&A (@QandA) December 4, 2017

Mr Yiannopoulos’ Melbourne show on Monday night was the subject of protests, with fights breaking out between far-left activists and supporters of the former Breitbart News columnist.

Senator Abetz said Mr Yiannopoulos was an “acquired taste” but defended his right to free speech.

Senator Singh called him a “snappily dressed whackjob.”

DASTYARI

Lisa Singh was forced to defend disgraced Labor colleague Sam Dastyari and called his meeting with a Chinese donor a “very silly thing.”

Senator Dastyari was dumped as Deputy Senate Whip after it was reported he had informed Chinese businessman Huang Xiangmo he could be under surveillance by ASIO. The meeting took place just weeks after the Senator had been sacked the first time for contradicting Labor policy on the South China Sea after Mr Huang had paid one of his travel bills.

Senator Singh questioned how news of Senator Dastyari’s meeting with Mr Huang got into the news.

How can Dastyari continue to sit in parliament with these serious accusations? @Lisa_Singh @SenatorAbetz & @Kate_McClymont respond #QandA pic.twitter.com/BzTaxC2xGA

— ABC Q&A (@QandA) December 4, 2017

“I think there are questions to be answered here. Particularly in relation to if our intelligence agencies are being politicised in some way by, willingly or unwillingly by the Government, that is a huge concern, a huge concern,” she said.

Professor Triggs, who launched Senator Dastyari’s memoir in Sydney last August, said he would be a “huge loss” if he left politics.

Senator Abetz condemned Senator Singh for calling the scandal “silly” and said he should be forced out of the Labor Party.

“This is serious stuff. And I think every Australian should be very concerned that there might be a parliamentarian among us who would be willing to disclose this sort of information,” he said.