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Former Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick. Picture: Gary Ramage
AUSTRALIA’S new Sex Discrimination Commissioner will be announced later this week, according to Attorney General George Brandis.
Senator Brandis told a parliamentary committee that Cabinet had yesterday made a decision about the position.
He said the Tony Abbott leadership spill had delayed the appointment, which has been vacant since Elizabeth Broderick finished her term in September.
But Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs has told the committee that she was left off the selection advisory panel — contrary to usual practise, despite Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s assurance before Christmas that she would be on the panel.
“I was consulted by the Prime Minister before Christmas about the process and he expressed to me that he was very keen to have a proper process for selection and asked whether this would cause any difficulties to the commission if it were to be delayed longer,†she said.
“I said that I was happy for the process to take longer in order for it to be an open, transparent and usual process. And it was left at that. I have not subsequently been consulted.
George Brandis listens as Human Rights Commission president Professor Gillian Triggs speaks at Senate Estimates in Canberra. Picture: Ray StrangeSource:News Corp Australia
“The Prime Minister at that stage indicated that he would include me on the panel, but he did so really as a matter of good faith because he hadn’t been advised by anybody else.
“It was obviously a matter for him in the long term whether he wanted to me to continue on the panel.â€
But Ms Triggs said the work of the commission on sex discrimination had continued “without faltering†despite the absence of a commissioner.
Ms Triggs said she had taken on a “leadership role†in this area.
She also revealed that she was not consulted about the appointment of Philip Ruddock to the position of Special Envoy for Human Rights.
Mr Ruddock’s decision not to recontest his seat of Berowa at the next election was announced yesterday.
Minister for Women Michaelia Cash said on Monday the timing of the announcement of a sex discrimination commissioner was “imminent†and the “best candidate possible†had been selected for the role following a formal process.
Senator Brandis confirmed Peta Credlin, who was chief of staff to former prime minister Tony Abbott, was never a candidate for the role.