Attorney-General George Brandis says he has lost confidence in Human Rights Commission (HRC) president Gillian Triggs and wants her to resign.

Senator Brandis has told Senate estimates the commission "has to be like Caesar's wife" and "beyond blemish".

Tensions between the Federal Government and the HRC have been on public display recently, with the Prime Minister saying the commission's damning report into children in detention was "a blatantly partisan politicised exercise".

Professor Triggs confirmed the secretary of the Attorney-General's Department asked her to resign during a meeting on February 3.

She also testified the secretary, Chris Moraitis, told her she would be offered another job if she did.

"The purpose of the meeting was to deliver a request from the Attorney," Professor Triggs told the hearing.

read more:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-24/gillian-triggs-says-brandis-wants-her-to-quit-rights-commission/6247520

Actually we (the Australian public majority) have lost confidence in George Brandis, Tim Wilson and Tony Abbott a long time ago... We want them to resign from their position... We accept credit card, simple humble resignations or double dissolution. The three plus Scott Morrison should go ASAP.  Triggs is doing a fine job under trying circumstances developed under previous and present governments. 

Yes Gus, whatever-else was obvious from Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s grand announcement on counter-terrorism yesterday, it was the fact that he is prepared to tell any lie & attempt any deceit to achieve his political ends.

"Sir Cringeworthy" has shown himself to be the greatest terrorist threat confronting this country through his government’s ideological determination to attack those in our society least able to defend themselves: whether they be the youngest, the oldest, the sickest, the poorest or those who simply observe a religious faith not to his liking.

Not satisfied with blatantly lying to Australians about the alleged ‘terrorist threat’, he arrogantly ignores the proper venue for canvassing such issues - our national parliament - & in doing so, once again plays “captain” by trying to place himself above those democratic institutions that Australians rely on to protect their cherished freedoms.

But it gets worse. Notwithstanding that more than 250 Australians are murdered each year & more than 180 die in workplaces across the land, Judge Abbott chooses to conflate the tragic deaths of two Australians as a result of the actions of a crazed gunmen in a Sydney café as the basis for an attack on core freedoms enjoyed by all Australians.

The deceit of Abbot’s fear meme is apparent by his blatant but entirely misleading claim that ASIO is currently investigating "several thousand leads & persons of concern" including 400 high priority cases – double the number from a year ago, whilst failing to balance his lie by telling Australians just how tiny is the number of so-called terrorists who have actually been convicted of a terrorist offence, let alone of having committed murder?

Don’t you worry about that I hear “Terrorist Tony” arguing …. “just trust me …. would I lie to you?” You betcha.

And in the ultimate cowardly hypocrisy, our “dog-whistler-in-chief” claims to be opposed to those who vilify others & incite hatred, whilst he does exactly that by questioning the loyalty of Muslim Australians without justification, whilst knowing that some of the mud will always stick.

In 1996, a young, blonde, blue-eyed Australian – not a Muslim – butchered 35 of his fellow Australians & wounded dozens more. The then Prime Minister used that horrible event to try & remove firearms from Australian society & genuinely make us safer.

Almost 20 years on, two young Australians are killed as a result of the deranged actions of another lone nutter & Tony Abbott wants to place the entire nation under total surveillance, fundamentally tampering with the foundations of our judicial system & ushering in totalitarianism.

Meet the “mad monk” – the real terrorist.

Yes John. Apart from a lot of shits cluttering his brain, Tony is pushing a fine line: An offence has been committed...

Liberal senators Ian Macdonald and Barry O’Sullivan were so busy interrupting and talking over Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs in Senate estimates on Tuesday they seemed to miss the fact she was saying something that could land the government in serious trouble.

They were still reading from the old talking points – the ones the government has been using to try to drive a statutory office holder out of her job, the ones the prime minister, Tony Abbott, still seemed to be using during question time a few hours later.

Having repeatedly interjected as Labor senator Penny Wong led Triggs through a 3 February meeting at which Triggs said the secretary of the attorney general’s department, Chris Moraitis, asked her to resign at the request of George Brandis and offered her “other work with the government”, O’Sullivan joked to committee chairman Macdonald, “I thought you might like to hear a man’s voice.”

They might have done better to listen to the women, because by Triggs’s account Moraitis, at the request of Brandis, might have come close to committing an offence.

The criminal code says it is an offence to offer “a benefit, or the promise of the provision of a benefit … with the intention of influencing a public official”.

read more: 

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/feb/24/liberals-senate-es...

Mr Moraitis denied explicitly linking Professor Triggs' resignation to the job offer. Prime Minister Tony Abbott also denied there had been any wrongdoing, saying on Wednesday that Professor Triggs "was not asked to resign and no inducement has been offered".

Labor senator Penny Wong, who was on the Senate committee that grilled Attorney-General George Brandis and his top bureaucrat Chris Moraitis, said Senator Brandis was unfit to be the nation's chief legal officer.  

"From the Prime Minister down to the bovver boys we saw in the Senate estimates committee yesterday, we've seen nothing short of outrageous attacks, personal attacks and, at worst, bullying attacks," Senator Wong said on Wednesday.

read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/abbott-government-hits-out-at-critics-of-gillian-triggs-attack-20150224-13nyfr.html

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has directly contradicted Prime Minister Tony Abbott's scathing critique of Australian Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs, heaping praise on the embattled professor and stressing the importance of getting children out of detention.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/malcolm-turnbull-c...

Former News Corporation Australian boss John Hartigan has called for Prime Minister Tony Abbott to step aside in the nation's best interest.

Mr Hartigan, who is now chairman of Prime Media, said he admired Mr Abbott.

But asked if the Prime Minister could turn around his political fortunes Mr Hartigan said: "No. I think his opportunity is gone. Even his strongest supporters are now detractors.