Haigh used his diplomatic immunity to help black activists opposing apartheid, and the journalists covering them, to escape the South African regime
Haigh carried the same passion into his work on the Refugee Review Tribunal. He was deeply affronted by the decisions of bureaucrats who too often condemned refugees to desperation and misery. He was also angered by political interference, where tribunal decisions that displeased the minister prompted “counselling” and non-reappointment. Bruce was “counselled” and not reappointed.
He was a fearless campaigner against the dehumanisation of refugees, whose lawful status under the Refugee Convention was undermined by government ministers’ use of terms like “boat people”, “queue-jumpers” and “illegal immigrants”. He put his money where his mouth was by challenging the deputy prime minister and National party leader John Anderson in the New South Wales seat of Gwydir at the 2004 election.
It was the written word, however, that held the greatest fascination for Haigh. He was a skilled and imaginative writer who could use words as both bouquets and bullets, sometimes simultaneously.
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