Dennis Richardson resigns from Royal Commission

Former ASIO boss Dennis Richardson has resigned from his position as special adviser to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, saying he had become “surplus to requirements” and that what he was being paid was not consistent with the work he was doing.

In an interview with ABC Radio on Thursday, Richardson said the interim report he had been working on prior to the Royal Commission being formed was “folded into” the commission, changing its nature.

“Soon as it became folded into the Royal Commission, particular legal frameworks were put around it. So the interim report that will now be done by the Royal Commission will be a very different document to the one that I would have done when I was doing the review prior to the Royal Commission being announced,” Richardson said.

“I just came to a view that what I was being paid wasn’t consistent with the work I was doing.”

Royal Commissioner Virginia Bell thanked Richardson for his contribution and said work on the interim report was “well advanced”.