Tributes poured in for Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson on Monday after he confirmed that he would, as Crikey suggested on Friday, resign and put up his hand for the blue-ribbon seat of Goldstein at the next election.

In just two years on the Human Rights Commission, Wilson “single-handedly reshaped the human rights debate in Australia”, restoring balance to a debate that had been “dominated by the priorities and prejudices of the left”, according to Attorney-General George Brandis, who appointed Wilson to the role with no selection process. Brandis went on to say that Australians “owe Tim Wilson a huge debt of gratitude”, over and above his $400,000 annual taxpayer-funded wage.

The Human Rights Commission notes in its announcement of Wilson’s departure that his achievements in his two years in the role include:

  • Hosting a religious freedom round table;
  • Hosting a free speech symposium; and
  • Working with Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda on promoting economic development of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

As a de facto LGBTI commissioner, Wilson (who is gay) also launched a report on sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex rights, and he also launched a guide concerning the treatment of LGBTI people at university. According to the Human Rights Commission’s website, he gave 21 official speeches in his time as commissioner.

The Australian today has lauded Wilson for deciding to resign his role as commissioner in order to pursue a political career, a salvo aimed at Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs for the perception that she has politicised her role. But during his time as commissioner, Wilson, who resigned from the Liberal Party to take up the HRC post, was always careful not to speak too stridently against any particular government action.

This was most obvious when Wilson effectively joined the Abbott government’s campaign against the ABC and Q&A last year, stating that Q&A should be “ashamed” for giving Zaky Mallah, who had been charged but not convicted of terrorism offences, a platform to ask questions on the show. At the timed Wilson also claimed that no one was calling for Mallah to be censored or silenced, while the government was doing just that.

Wilson also defended SBS’ decision to sack football journo Scott McIntyre for his Anzac Day tweets (after then-communications minister Malcolm Turnbull complained to SBS), painting the matter as a contractual issue between McIntyre and SBS, rather than a free speech issue.

He spoke against the mandatory data retention legislation, but stopped short of calling for the legislation to be scrapped, instead proposing safeguards and stating it wasn’t 1984 come to life.

Wilson was more than happy to rail against Labor’s internet filter, but was much more reserved when the Coalition government passed legislation to allow some websites to be blocked if they infringe on copyright, instead just calling for certain safeguards.

Wilson was lauded by the Australian Christian Lobby for defending the rights of religious groups to discriminate against gay people.

He also said those who wanted to see what we were getting into with the Trans-Pacific Partnership before Australia signed the agreement were just trying to “derail the process”.

Wilson infamously tweeted in 2011 that Occupy protesters were just “time wasters” and it was time to “send in the water cannons”. He has subsequently stated this was a joke.

When the Immigration Department accidentally made public personal details of asylum seekers, Wilson said simply the result had been “undesirable“.

Most recently, during a Hypotheticals-style panel discussion on asylum seekers in January, Wilson alleged that some male asylum seekers had been known to go to a brothel, “get a blowjob” from a male sex worker, get a receipt for the services, and then attempt to use that as evidence that they were gay and would be prosecuted if they were returned to their country of origin. Sex workers Crikey spoke to said that was absurd — brothels rarely give receipts and never specify services rendered and the gender of the provider — and lawyers for asylum seekers could not provide any instances of this happening. Wilson responded to the controversy by stating that the comments should be seen in the context of explaining that sexual activity cannot be used as the basis for seeking to claim asylum. Crikey sought clarification from the Human Rights Commission at the time the comments were made but did not receive a response to multiple requests.

Wilson was doing the rounds in several interviews yesterday in his last week in the Human Rights Commissioner job. He has been careful to point out that under Liberal Party rules, he can only talk about his resignation from the Human Rights Commission, and after this week he will no longer be able to speak publicly about the preselection process until it has been finalised. Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett has criticised Wilson for betraying the spirit of the rules, and told the ABC he would be backing Wilson’s rival, Alexander Downer’s daughter Georgina, for Goldstein preselection. Goldstein has been solidly Liberal since its creation in 1984. Retiring member Andrew Robb held onto the seat with 61% of the vote to Labor’s 39% at the last election.

Asked yesterday what would happen if he failed in preselection and found himself without a job, Wilson said simply that “fortune favours the brave”.