So shall we add human rights to the long list...

[i-need-a-martini]

...of stuff ups made by the Abbott Government?

The government has appointed (without any recruitment process, merit considerations, interview and even without the GG approval which is the usual process) the anti Human Rights Commission advocate, Tim Wilson as the (and this is truly true) Australian Human Rights Commissioner.

In case you don't know who Wilson is, I can fill you in just a little -

• has campaigned for years to have the AHRC disbanded. And lo and behold, here he is RUNNING it. Go figure.
• right winged extremist who is obsessed with left winged so-called communist activities and thinks all Labor supporters have a communist hiding under their bed. 
• Thinks that health warnings on cigarettes are "nanny state" (his favourite term) politics
• is a vehement 'free speech' advocate
• yet for some reason believes that the family and associates of bikies should not have their 'rights' infringed upon by police wishing to interview them after a crime is committed.
• Climate change talk is all a lie and the CT is a threat to our sovereignty

He is a prolific writer on all things right winged with ridiculous views. A good example is an article in the Australian last month titled: "Who's on first, gay black man or disabled Muslim woman?". The article itself isn't worth reading as it is full of garbage but I think you can get the general gist of this guys attitude from the title.

And his first published article after the appointment? Did it mention human rights for our indigenous people? Or our disabled people? Or asylum seekers being held in detention centres? Nope. He mentioned 2 specific bugbears of his - firstly, that the police have no right to interview family members of bikies and secondly, the innappropriateness of unions (an allegation only BTW) to donate to the cause of same sex marriage.

This person is now head of human rights in Australia.

[cherry*135]

Exactly, that is why Tony Abbott's is pushing these changes through before Christmas.. hoping people won't take much notice as they are too busy with Christmas planning.

[icyfroth]

ALP would do no different if in power. Get over your silly Labor vs Liberal squabbling. They're as good (or bad) as one another.

[izabsmiling]

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@icyfroth wrote:

ALP would do no different if in power. Get over your silly Labor vs Liberal squabbling. They're as good (or bad) as one another.

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Icy, I think posters are discussing our Government  and Human Rights in this thread. Does that upset you ?

[izabsmiling]

December 21, 2013

•  

Deborah Snow

Tim Wilson bypassed tradition, writes Deborah Snow.

Alone among the seven (soon to be eight) 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.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/george-brandis-inside-job-on-human-rights-draws-fire-20131220-2zqsm.h...

Even John Roskam, executive director of 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 outspoken former employee.

''I think it's most appropriate that Tim is there,'' Roskam said this week. ''We [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.''

The IPA's long-standing desire to have the commission wiped out is not the only reason many in the human rights field consider Wilson's appointment perverse.

''He has got no relevant qualifications at all,'' a commission employee said this week. ''He has been a climate change denier, has done no law, little policy, he has an arts degree and a masters in something [diplomacy and trade, according to Wilson] but he has no technical qualifications in this field at all. I would say most of the staff are better qualified than Tim is.''

Ben Saul, professor of international law at Sydney University, agrees.

''He has no serious background in human rights, either by working in a human rights organisation or by having any relevant qualifications in the area,'' he says.

Wilson rejects this, arguing that, on his definition of human rights - which includes the IPA policy work he did on free trade - he has devoted his ''entire adult life'' to the field. ''Private property is in itself a human right,'' he says. ''I have always focused on … free trade, which is ultimately an extension of private property.''

good grief...what are we in for ?

[cherry*135]

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@icyfroth wrote:

ALP would do no different if in power. Get over your silly Labor vs Liberal squabbling. They're as good (or bad) as one another.

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You don't get it. We are discussing an appointment that was made recently. Nothing to do with Labor, nothing to do with squabbling.

Have you any comments on the appt of Tim Wilson?

[cherry*135]

What are we in for.. 5 years of Tim Wilson as Freedom Commissioner.. goodness knows how that will pan out.

[i-need-a-martini]

Of course here are no comments.

Just as there have been no comments on any of the other posts about the stupid decisions and announcements made by the government in the last few months. Because how can you possibly comment on what we have witnessed over the last few months?

How can any Liberal voter with a conscience comment on the appointment of someone like Wilson to a post like this? It defies rational explanation. They know it as well as I do.

[i-need-a-martini]

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@icyfroth wrote:

Nobody gives a Rat's at the moment. It's Christmas.

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Christmas? I am thinking about those poor sods on 'Christmas' Island this Christmas. Cause Wilson sure as hell won't be.

[freakiness]

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@icyfroth wrote:

Nobody gives a Rat's at the moment. It's Christmas.

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Which is probably why they're doing things as they think nobody is noticing.

[freakiness]

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@icyfroth wrote:

ALP would do no different if in power. Get over your silly Labor vs Liberal squabbling. They're as good (or bad) as one another.

---

Sure they are.

You haven't been taking much notice if you think they're the same.

Don't worry about the code of conduct just change it to suit the rorters.  Suck up to Clive to get his vote by allowing his big new coal mine.  Undoing the rules about CSG mining, undoing the rules about investment and charities.