The Abbott Government lurches from one bad ideological decision to another.
This time it is Australian Attorney-General George Brandis’ appointment of Tim Wilson as a new Human Rights Commissioner aka Freedom Commissioner - reportedly a $325,000-a-year position.
This controversial stance hints at stormy waters ahead.
The commission's
president Gillian Triggs today warned Mr Wilson, who was hand-picked by
Attorney-General George Brandis, that the commission must speak with one voice
and be independent of government.
She said Mr Wilson, a
former Liberal Party member and Institute of Public Affairs chief, would bring
"fresh air'' to the body as one of seven human rights commissioners.
"But I think it
must be stressed that ultimately ... we have ultimately to agree on a single
policy,'' she told ABC radio.
Mr Wilson believes
section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, which prevents people from being
offended or insulted on the grounds of race, should be "unambiguously
repealed''.
"I have been
appointed to the role with the full knowledge of my view and I expect a
reasonable accommodation of those views with respect to what the commission's
position is,'' he told The Australian.
But Professor Triggs
said section 18C of the Act should be "tweaked'' rather than abolished.
"We have a legal
obligation internationally and under the treaties to implement legislation that
protects people from racial vilification in public. That is all 18C purports to
do,'' she said.
"Of course it is
possible to tweak it, to amend it, to take language out and to put new language
in that strengthens it - all of that we of course fully support as a matter of
law.''
She said the Human
Rights Commission "isn't a place for party political rhetoric'', and must
be independent of government.
"We are not here to
give effect to government policy as such, we are here to monitor compliance by
Australia with its international obligations to human rights,'' Professor
Triggs said.
Senator Brandis has
promised to repeal or amend Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act so
speech that is found to be offensive and insulting is no longer defined as
racial vilification.
The move will change the
definition of racial vilification to eliminate at least two of the grounds that
were used in a court ruling against Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt over
articles about light-skinned Aboriginal people.
Professor Triggs said:
"My understanding is that the Attorney is consulting and he will make up
his own mind whether he decides to keep the provision and amend it, which we
think is probably the better outcome.''
But Mr Wilson said the
section represented an unjustifiable limit on free speech and should be struck
out entirely.
"Obviously I have a
very strong and different view, and I am planning to prosecute that within the
commission,'' he said....
Then there is this previous anti-free speech/anti-political comment stance by Mr. Wilson on his own Twitter account in October 2011.
Click on all images to enlarge
As well as the fact he appears to be a stalking horse for the Institute of Public Affairs in its efforts to completely abolish the Human Rights Commission.
The Executive Director of the Institute of Public Affairs, John Roskam, welcomed today’s announcement by the Commonwealth Attorney-General, George Brandis that Tim Wilson, Policy Director at the IPA, will be Australia’s next Human Rights Commissioner.
“Tim Wilson is a proud, passionate, and uncompromising voice for a classical liberal approach to human rights. Australia needs his voice in public debate now more than ever,” John Roskam said.
“Tim Wilson’s appointment offers the Australian Human Rights Commission an opportunity to prove it can do something which it has so far failed to do, namely defend the human rights of individuals against attacks on those rights by the state.”
“Fundamental human rights like freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of association have been under attack in Australia by federal and state governments and the Human Rights Commission has stood silent. The Gillard government’s so-called ‘anti-discrimination’ law is an example of how instead of defending human rights the Commission was a willing accessory in attempts to expand government control over what Australians can say and hear and do.”
“The Gillard government’s ‘anti-discrimination’ law would have made it unlawful to express a political opinion that offended someone. That law also reversed the onus of proof, and removed the right to legal representation of people accused of breaking the law. Instead of condemning the law, the Human Rights Commission said this assault on human rights didn’t go far enough.
“The Commission has also said nothing about the erosion of farmers’ property rights by native vegetation laws. Likewise the Commission was missing in action when Stephen Conroy proposed to take away freedom of the press and when he tried to censor the internet.”
“The IPA has called for the Commission to be abolished, or at the very least, for Freedom Commissioners to be appointed to balance the four existing Anti-Discrimination Commissioners.”
“Tim has been an outstanding advocate for freedom in the seven years he has been at the IPA. The Board and staff congratulate him on his appointment and wish him well on taking up this important role at a time when human rights need to be defended,” said Mr Roskam.
The IPA will soon release a major report on those provisions in Commonwealth laws which undermine fundamental legal rights such as the right to silence, the presumption of innocence, and the right to natural justice.
For further information and comment: John Roskam, Executive Director, Institute of Public Affairs, 0415 475 673, jroskam@ipa.org.au
Our new Human Rights Commissioner is also not backward in flaunting to the world his liking for liquor and his apparent penchant for drinking alone........
UPDATE
Alone among the seven commissioners of
the Australian Human Rights Commission, Tim Wilson never had to apply for the
job. He never had to sit for an interview, be screened by an expert panel, or
undergo the rigorous weeks-long selection process that applied to the others.
Instead, Attorney-General George Brandis rang
him up a couple of weeks ago and asked if he was interested. He took 24 hours
to think about it and consult his partner Ryan, (a Melbourne primary school
teacher) before saying yes. By Monday it was official, and the twitterverse
went into meltdown. So hasty was the cabinet appointment, the formalities of
submitting it to the Governor-General will not be conducted until early next
year.
Wilson, 33, says he was shocked to discover
what he'll earn in his new job - more than $320,000 a year, close to the
$340,000 paid to a federal court judge. Even John Roskam, head of the
right-wing think tank the Institute of Public Affairs - from which Wilson was
plucked - finds the amount ''obscene'', though he extols the virtues of his
former employee.
''I think it's most appropriate that Tim is
there,'' Roskam said this week. ''[The IPA] still think the Human Rights
Commission should be abolished, but if it is going to exist, you want people
with a range of life and political experiences.''....
Tim Wilson's appointment
as human rights commissioner could lead to cuts to a program on school bullying
as the Australian Human Rights Commission accommodates his six-figure salary
without any extra funding from the government.
The incoming human
rights commissioner, who is due to take up his position in February, will be
paid about $320,000 - a sum equal to that of his fellow commissioners, though
less than the commission's president, Gillian Triggs.
On Sunday, Professor
Triggs said Mr Wilson's salary would have to come out of the commission's
annual budget of about $25 million.
''This really does
squeeze the commission,'' she said.
Professor Triggs said
she and the other commissioners would meet in January to decide where cuts
would come from to make room for Mr Wilson's salary but suggested an
anti-bullying program and a program on education for older Australians might be
in the firing line.
She said that an inquiry
into asylum seeker children held in detention would still go ahead.
The commission had not
anticipated it would have to pay Mr Wilson's salary as new appointees usually
came with extra federal government funding, a spokesman said. The commission
also had no funding set aside for the position as it has recently been filled
by commissioners also performing another role.
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