New details show how federal MP Tim Wilson spent his time in the office of human rights commissioner – assisting the IPA and soliciting his Liberal party endorsement.

The now Liberal MP for Goldstein used his official human rights commission email account to arrange an international speaker for a event put on by the conservative thinktank, the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA).

He also used the account to sort out his own attendance at functions for IPA donors, and ask for a political endorsement from someone who had come to him in his capacity as human rights commissioner.

An unidentified member of either the Liberal party or the IPA had approached Mr Wilson in an attempt to have provisions of the Racial Discrimination Act used to target “aboriginal activists” who were being “racist” towards non-Aboriginal people.

While Mr Wilson did not engage with the racism claims, he took the opportunity to solicit an endorsement as he prepared for the Goldstein preselection battle.

The request for an endorsement was sent on February 15, 2016, a day on which he also announced his intention to resign from the commission, though his resignation was not effective until 19 February.

Mr Wilson has described the emails as “utterly irrelevant” and says he only fought to have them kept private as a way to toy with the applicant for their release.

More details are accessible here.