Attorney-General Michaelia Cash made captain’s picks for six of the 19 people appointed to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal on the eve of the federal election.
Federal ministers have made more than 120 appointments or reappointments to Commonwealth bodies over the past two weeks. The election was expected to be called within days.
Attorney-General Michaelia Cash has defended a rash of pre-election appointments to the body that reviews government decisions.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Cash on Monday appointed 19 new members and reappointed a further 26 to the tribunal that reviews government decisions.
This included former West Australian attorney-general Michael Mischin (appointed deputy president) and fellow WA Liberal MP Peter Katsambanis, both of whom lost their seats in the 2021 state election, and former NSW minister Pru Goward.
A trio of senior staffers to federal Coalition ministers were also included: Ann Duffield, Cheryl Cartwright and Kate Chapple.
Cash told a Senate estimates comittee hearing on Tuesday, under questioning from veteran Labor senator Kim Carr, that out of the 19 new members, 13 were on the expressions of interest register the AAT keeps with eligible candidates.
The current version of the register was put together after positions were advertised a year ago, in April 2021.
“The attorney-general is not limited to candidates recommended by the president of the AAT and may choose to recommend to cabinet a candidate for a position that has not been suggested by the president of the AAT,” Cash said. “Clearly, the protocol at all times has been followed.”
Carr agreed that was one part of the appointment protocol, which was put in place in 2019 after former High Court judge Ian Callinan reviewed the AAT’s operations.
“But you basically told me that six of the people that you have nominated were on your own advice to the cabinet,” Carr said to the attorney-general.
Cash also revealed that 15 of the 19 people appointed had legal experience, including eight barristers.
Callinan recommended that all people made members of the AAT should be qualified and that appointments be based on merit.
Labor wants more transparency around the appointment process after more than 80 people with Liberal Party connections were selected during the Coalition’s term. But it doesn’t necessarily agree all members have to have legal experience, depending on which section of the tribunal they are working in.
Acting AAT registrar Jamie Crew told the committee: “We welcome all of the experience that any appointment brings to the tribunal.”
Cash said Mischin and Katsambanis both had decades of legal experience and Goward’s qualifications as a former sex discrimination commissioner and journalist stood for themselves.
Duffield – previously chief of staff to Scott Morrison and former senior minister Philip Ruddock – had been an AAT member before and “is someone who has an understanding of government”.
“She’s a lawyer too, is she?” Carr asked.
“Ann Duffield is not a lawyer. And obviously, it is not a prerequisite,” the attorney-general replied, adding she believed the former staffer would hit the ground running.
Cash said she would have to check whether Duffield was listed on the expressions of interest register.
She also conceded Cartwright – previously chief of staff to former Nationals leader Warren Truss – wasn’t legally qualified but said she was “eminently qualified” for the nature of the work.
“I would argue that as a CEO of the Australian Pipeline and Gas Association, she is someone who is able to work under pressure,” Cash said.
Two former Labor senators had terms extended in Monday’s announcement. Linda Kirk was appointed under the previous Labor government – one of just two ALP-connected people it put on the tribunal – while the other, Mark Bishop, was put on the AAT by the Coalition.
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