bLOGOS/HA HA: LOGOS/HA HA in the bully pulpit : PARLIAMENT with FILTER MOUTHPIECE

Parliament of Australia

House of Representatives

Motion :

Attorney General - Attempted Censure

25 February 2015

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition)

I seek leave to move:

That the House censures the Attorney-General:

(1)for launching an unprecedented attack on the Australian Human Rights Commission designed to undermine its independence;

(2)for treating an independent statutory office holder with contempt; and

(3)for directing the Secretary of the Department of Attorney-General to offer an inducement to the President of the Australian Human Rights Commission in return for her resignation.

Leave not granted.

I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the Leader of the Opposition from moving the following motion forthwith:

That the House censures the Attorney-General:

(1)for launching an unprecedented attack on the Australian Human Rights Commission designed to undermine its independence;

(2)for treating an independent statutory office holder with contempt; and

(3)for directing the Secretary of the Department of Attorney-General to offer an inducement to the President of the Australian Human Rights Commission in return for her resignation.

Prime Minister of Australia, lying is not insider nonsense. It is proof that the Attorney-General and his government have failed the test of leadership. Yesterday you plumbed a new depth in using the power of the executive branch—

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister)

Madam Speaker, this is a suspension motion. It is not a censure motion, and it is not permitted under the standing orders to accuse people of lying.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker)
The Leader of the Opposition has the call, and the point the Prime Minister makes is true. Address your marks to the censure motion and desist from unparliamentary language. In fact, withdraw.

Honourable members interjecting—

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition)

Yesterday and today we have seen a shocking attack by the most powerful man in Australia upon the president—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker)

I will have silence. The Leader of the Opposition will resume his seat.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister)

Madam Speaker, he has used an unparliamentary term, and he should withdraw it.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker)

I ask the honourable Leader of the Opposition to withdraw.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition)

I withdraw.

Yesterday and today we have seen the Attorney-General and the rest of his government reach a new and shocking low. When people like the Attorney-General or the Prime Minister of Australia, with all of the power of government, use their positions to bully and intimidate independent statutory office holders then we should suspend standing orders to discuss this matter. The actions yesterday—and as much as the Prime Minister and Attorney-General want to say it is not the real issue—when powerful men in remarkable positions of strength use their authority not to lead the nation but to attack critics then we have a severe problem with the strength of our community and our government in this country.

I understand that the Prime Minister, the Attorney-General and members of the government may not approve of the President of the Human Rights Commission's report, but what I do not understand is that, rather than dealing with the issues in the report, what they have done is attack her character. They have attacked her character. What we also saw yesterday was the embarrassing and scandalous situation where the President of the Human Rights Commission was forced to sit two people down from the Attorney-General, a target as the Attorney-General turned on her and attacked her. Then we saw she had to put up with the assassination of her character by the Attorney-General and by this man. We have seen an assassination of character. This is the tool in trade. I believe Australians are sick and tired of an angry Tony Abbott. I believe Australians are sick and tired of the constant overreach of the Prime Minister of Australia.

Being Prime Minister of Australia is a remarkable privilege. It is a bully pulpit to be able to advocate ideas.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker)

I would remind the Leader of the Opposition that this is a suspension motion.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition)

Yes. But what we mean is, whilst it is a bully pulpit, it is not a pulpit for bullies, and that is what we are seeing with this government. We should suspend standing orders because what we have seen with this attack on the President of the Human Rights Commission is a new low by the most powerful man in Australia against an upright, proper and decent woman. We have seen in this attack by the Prime Minister the classic overreach of the angry Prime Minister. He says that he does not like what she has written, so therefore she must resign.

We have seen word games played by this government. When is a resignation not a resignation? When Tony Abbott and George Brandis ask for it. When is an inducement not an inducement? When these ministers and the Attorney-General offer it. The President of the Human Rights Commission understood perfectly well what was happening when the secretary of the department came along and said, 'I'm sorry to tell you this, but the Attorney-General's lost confidence in you; the government's lost confidence in you.' You cannot sack this statutory office holder. There is a clear implication if you say to this independent statutory office holder, 'the government has lost confidence in you, but you cannot be sacked'; there is only one course of action being asked for by these powerful people—the Attorney-General and his leader, the Prime Minister—it is clearly putting pressure on her to resign.

Then we hear about the embarrassing spectacle that no job was offered. Today the foreign minister gave a strong and appropriate defence of the Secretary of the Attorney-General's Department. She certainly defends the secretary of the department; she said he is a very truthful person. We agree. We think he is a truthful person. What we do not believe is that we are hearing the truth from the Attorney-General or from this Prime Minister.

You can just see the decision-making in the inner sanctum of this government—at least the bits that we have not seen already leaked. They would have sat around and said: 'We want this woman gone. We want her out of the position.' That is what they would have said. You can see them saying: 'George, send a messenger to get rid of the messenger. Send her the message that we no longer have confidence but if she does the right thing and fits in with the agenda of this government we will find her a job somewhere else.' Unfortunately for this government and its bullying ways, the President of the Australian Human Rights Commission was not playing ball.

Prime Minister, I think you underestimate many Australians when you dismiss this matter as an 'insider issue'. I think there are a lot of Australians who have been appalled by your conduct and your character assassination of this President of the Australian Human Rights Commission. I think you have reminded a lot of Australians what they deep-down feel about you, that you are a—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker)

I would remind the Leader of the Opposition that this is a suspension motion.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition)

It is a suspension of standing orders motion. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker)

Then kindly refer to it.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition)

It is important to suspend standing orders because Australia has been reminded of the character of this Prime Minister and of this Attorney-General. Never could we have imagined such a scenario. I know there are good members of the government—perhaps not those who are yelling out—who are deeply uneasy at this open attack on an independent statutory office holder.

I congratulate the member for Wentworth, who has come out and been supportive of Gillian Triggs. I also acknowledge that the foreign minister seems to have some quiet confidence in Gillian Triggs. And I know there are more of you out there—probably even more than supported the spill motion. This is why we have to support the suspension of standing orders motion.

No government minister should be proud of the last 48 hours. No government minister should be proud of the absolute plumbing of the depths and this attack on this respected, independent person. What is it about the Abbott government and the Attorney-General that they do not understand the separation of powers? What is it about this government that, when the President of the Australian Human Rights Commission comes down with a report that the government does not like, all of a sudden the independent office holder must go?

Please, members of the government, Attorney-General and Prime Minister, do not treat Australians as mugs and say: 'No resignation was sought and no alternative job was offered'. We can play the word games, Mr Prime Minister. You can talk about how 'no inducement was given'. Your messenger said to the President of the Human Rights Commission, 'the government no longer has confidence in you'—there you go, character assassinating again.

But they knew they could not sack this office holder, so the clear implication of saying to Gillian Triggs, 'The government has no confidence in you,' is 'You must resign'. That is the clear implication. Then, they said: 'We will look after you. We will find you a special role.' Now the government has said today in parliament, 'There was no special role offered'. Yet, yesterday, the Secretary of the Attorney-General's Department said there was a role offered.

The foreign minister was left to hang out a bit today when she said, 'no special role was offered'. Yet it was in Hansard yesterday that the secretary of the department said there was. Someone is not telling the truth here, and I believe it starts with the Attorney-General and it starts with the Prime Minister.

What the government needs to understand is that, rather than shooting the messenger as they are doing here, they should be taking heed of the message. I believe that many Australians, be they Liberal or Labor supporters, or any other party, they have— (Time expired)

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker)

Is the motion seconded?

Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Attorney General)

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House)

The government will not be supporting a suspension of standing orders from the Leader of the Opposition, because the Australian people expect us to get on with the job of good government in this country. That is what the Australian people expect us to do in this place. They do not expect us to get down in the chum bucket—

Ms Butler interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker)

The member for Griffith will desist and is warned.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House)

We are not going to hop into the chum bucket with 'Beltway Bill'—

and so on...