The welfare of asylum seeker children are a worthy concern,...

The welfare of asylum seeker children are a worthy concern, given they are not in control of how they arrived in Australia, a point well made today by Malcolm Turnbull.1 Moreover, politics is undoubtedly at the heart of the Gillian Triggs controversy, and in many ways determines or at least colours one’s views of who is right or wrong. However, if child welfare and politics are separated from the issue for a moment, there is another important legal issue at hand – judicial independence.

Should the Attorney-General, George Brandis, have allegedly asked his departmental Secretary, Chris Moraitis, to offer a position to Triggs in the nature of her experience as an international lawyer, predicated on a stated loss of confidence in Triggs’ performance in the role? Mr Moraitis told Senate Estimates on Monday, “I never sought her resignation…I said that the Attorney unfortunately lost confidence in her as chairman…[and that] the government would be prepared to consider positively a senior role for her, which was specifically mentioned.”2 Moraitis went on to say her resignation “was an option I understood from that discussion.”3 Would this not leave a reasonable observer to conclude the two were causally linked in some way, amounting to ministerial interference in the judiciary.

An independent, objective, human rights institution is essential to ensuring the Australian Government is fulfilling its obligations under international law and protecting the vulnerable. This means the AHRC must be free to review the government’s human rights performance, free from government influence. Regardless of the Federal Government’s accusations of Ms Triggs’ political bias, she could hardly be expected to stand down now – it could be viewed as cowing to government interference.
  
Footnotes

1. James Massola, ‘Malcolm Turnbull Contradicts Tony Abbott on Gillian Triggs Strategy’, The Sydney Morning Herald (Online), 25 Feb 2015 < http://www.smh.com.au/federal-polit...gillian-triggs-strategy-20150225-13o8lb.html>.
2. Daniel Hurst, ‘Gillian Triggs Says Role Was Offered if She Quit Human Rights Commission Post’, The Guardian Australia (Online), 23 February 2015 < http://www.theguardian.com/australi...ole-if-she-quit-human-rights-commission-post>.
3. Ibid.