Tim Wilson helped IPA and solicited Liberal party endorsement while in human rights position – The Guardian

Tim Wilson provided direct assistance to the Institute of Public Affairs and solicited endorsement for his looming 2016 Liberal preselection battle while in the office of human rights commissioner, previously secret correspondence shows.

A trove of internal emails, which Wilson fought to keep from being released, shows the now Liberal MP for Goldstein used his official human rights commission email account to help arrange an international speaker for a major IPA event, organise his own attendance at functions for IPA donors, and ask for a political endorsement from someone who approached him in his capacity as human rights commissioner.

Wilson told the Guardian the emails were utterly irrelevant and a non-story, saying his support of the IPA was publicly disclosed and well known throughout his term.

But the former human rights and disability discrimination commissioner Graeme Innes said the behaviour was clearly inappropriate and threatened the independence of the commission.

The correspondence ranges across Wilsons controversial tenure at the commission from 2014 to 2016, and was released through freedom of information laws to an anonymous applicant who requested exchanges between Wilsons work email account and addresses with the domains @ipa.org.au or @liberal.org.au.

In one email in 2014, Wilson used his commission email account to contact a mystery international speaker on behalf of the IPA, renewing a request that he attend a major IPA event.

The identity of the speaker is redacted in the documents, but, in earlier correspondence, Wilson praised his achievements, compared his record of success to that of Rupert Murdoch, and suggested he could top the News Corp chairmans speech to a 2013 IPA event.

You may recall, when I was previously at the Institute of Public Affairs and extended an invitation for you to come and speak in Australia, Wilson wrote on 26 October 2014.

Since then I have left the IPA. Our (now not so) new government appointed me Australias Human Rights Commissioner. Its an interesting role, especially because I now get to prosecute libertarian values within government. Needless to say the appointment attracted a lot of controversy.

Regardless, the IPA is still keen to have you speak in Australia if you are open to doing so? They asked if I could share your email. Would that be acceptable to you?

The speaker responded the next day, asking Wilson to make the appropriate email introductions.

Thanks for the update, and, yes, I would still be interested in speaking at IPA if we can coordinate things properly. Can you make the email intros?

The documents also show that in 2016, as Wilsons tenure reached its end, he used his official human rights commissioner email account to help prepare for his bid to become the Liberal member for Goldstein.

On 9 February, he received an email from an unidentified member of either the Liberal party or the IPA, who was trying to convince him to use provisions of the Racial Discrimination Act to target aboriginal activists who were being racist towards non-Aboriginal people.

In a reply six days later, Wilson did not engage with the racism claims and informed the individual that he had resigned from the Human Rights Commission.

He then asked for quotes and a picture to include in an endorsement brochure to help with his next adventure. Wilson was at the time preparing for the Goldstein preselection battle.

If you are prepared to help me in my next adventure Id appreciate a short and flattering quote for an endorsements brochure with an electronic pic sent to [redacted], Wilson wrote, using his Human Rights Commission email account. Up to you.

Wilsons request for an endorsement was sent on 15 February 2016, the day he announced his intention to resign from the commission. His resignation was not effective until 19 February.

A lengthy endorsement was then emailed back to Wilson in reply.

If you want me to condense them, let me know, or if you would like to edit them together, please feel free, the response said.

The Guardian has obtained Wilsons endorsement brochure, which contains quotes from more than 20 individuals. It is not clear who was involved in the February 2016 email exchange.

The documents also show Wilson, while commissioner and using his official email account, agreed to attend an IPA fundraising event on 4 June 2015 .

An unidentified IPA member sent him an email requesting his attendance.

Hi Tim, the email read. Were having a lunch for IPA donors and friendly journos in Sydney on Thursday it would be great if you are able to join us. Let me know. See invitation below.

Wilson replied: Hey mate, Ill be there.

In another exchange, an email is sent by a Liberal party official to Wilsons old IPA email account, requesting his attendance as a key note speaker at a lunchtime event for the Liberal party branch at Lorne in Victoria.

Your new position creates opportunities to raise issues onto a national level, the Liberal official said.

The email was forwarded from Wilsons IPA email account to his human rights commission account, where Wilson responded by suggesting the official contact the IPA for a speaker.

Thanks for your email. As Human Rights Commissioner I am unable to come and speak at fundraisers, Wilson wrote. You may want to contact [redacted] at the Institute of Public Affairs.

The documents show Wilson also used the account to arrange attendance at a dinner for IPA donors following the launch of Peter Reiths book in Melbourne in November 2015.

Well probably also do a small dinner for donors afterwards, depending on who attends, an IPA member wrote to Wilson. Wed love to have you for that too if youre available.

Wilson replied: Sure. Done.

Innes, who was Australias disability discrimination commissioner until 2014, said the conduct was inappropriate and hurt the independence of the commission.

Innes has been critical of Wilson in the past, and was not replaced when his term ended in 2014, several months after Wilsons appointment.

It is inappropriate to use the position as a statutory officer to advance your political career because you are an officer of the Commonwealth. It is the same reason he had to resign as a commissioner before seeking endorsement, Innes told the Guardian.

It is also inappropriate to advance the causes of political organisations such as the IPA whilst in that role as it is not a function of the role nor a government or commission function.

Speaking generally, the former race discrimination commissioner Tim Soutphommasane said it would not be appropriate for someone to use the office for political activities.

It would be seriously inappropriate, if not improper, for a member of the commission to have used their statutory office for partisan activity and political campaigning, he said.

Soutphommasane, who has a background with Labor, was at the commission at the same time as Wilson.

In response to Soutphommasanes comments, Wilson said it was good I didnt then.

He said he was proud of his support for human rights and groups like the IPA, which stood up for foundational freedoms. He said his support of the IPA was no secret.

My IPA membership was consistent throughout my entire time as Australias Human Rights Commissioner (including on my official bio) and as an MP so its kind of a non-story, Wilson said.

The commissions official biography states that Wilson was previously a policy director with the IPA.

Wilson also said he had done the honourable thing by resigning before seeking preselection to protect the non-partisan standing of the office. He said he would have been entitled to stay on as commissioner, take leave, and pursue partisan preselection without resigning, something he said had been confirmed by the former Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs.

So this is all pretty sad: what do you want me to do? Resign again? he said.

Wilson confirmed he had gone to the information commissioner to try to prevent the release of the documents.

But he said he had done so to toy with the applicant.

I absolutely exercised all my rights under the Act to make sure the applicant thought there was something salacious in these emails only to be disappointed that they were utterly irrelevant and theyd wasted their time, and sadly that of the hard-working people at the Australian Human Rights Commission, who had to compile and redact these documents.

The Human Rights Commission declined to comment when approached.

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Tim Wilson helped IPA and solicited Liberal party endorsement while in human rights position - The Guardian