Culture

The Senate Has Declared George Brandis “Unfit For Office” Over The Way He Treated HRC President Gillian Triggs

Not a good day for George.

by Alex McKinnon  2 March 2015

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Today has not been a good day for Attorney-General George Brandis, and not just because everyone’s messaging him dumb pictures to protest data retention. Earlier this afternoon his career was put on notice after the Senate passed a motion declaring him unfit to hold the office of Attorney-General over his treatment of Australian Human Rights Commission President Gillian Triggs.

Labor Senator Penny Wong moved a motion censuring Brandis for failing to defend Triggs from political attacks, seeking to obtain her resignation, undermining Australia’s commitment to human rights and “being unfit to hold the office of Attorney-General”.

“He has not only displayed a lack of integrity, he has behaved in a cowardly fashion, and most importantly he has eroded public confidence in his approach to the position of Attorney-General,” Wong said.

Wong was backed up by Greens Leader Christine Milne, who attacked Brandis’ response to the HRC’s conclusions that keeping children in dentention severely infringes on their mental health and human rights.

Labor and the Greens together did not have the numbers to pass the motion by themselves, but they received support from enough crossbenchers to push the censure motion over the line. Independent Senator Jacqui Lambie and Palmer United Senators Glenn Lazarus and Dio Wang voted for the motion, while Nick Xenophon and Family First Senator Bob Day voted against. John Madigan, Ricky Muir and David Leyonhjelm did not vote on the motion.

Brandis came under heavy criticism when it was discovered his secretary had offered Triggs another public servant position in exchange for her resignation two weeks before the government released the HRC’s “Forgotten Children” report, which gave a a scathing assessment of the impact of Australia’s mandatory immigration detention policies on children. Triggs refused to step down over the government’s calls for her to resign, and has received vocal support from people arguing that she should stay in the role.

A Senate censure motion doesn’t necessarily mean Brandis has to resign; opposition parties call on government ministers to resign all the time and they rarely do, and it’s still the government’s call on which person holds which ministry. But Brandis could be in real trouble; the Australian Federal Police are investigating whether his offer of a job for Triggs in return for her resignation constituted “corrupt and unlawful behaviour,” and keeping him in the AG post in defiance of the Senate wouldn’t help a government that’s already having major problems passing its bills into law. It remains to be seen whether Brandis’ conduct will force the government to make him step down, but a Senate censure sure as anything won’t help his efforts to stay put.