Downer marks Magna Carta anniversary in UK

Canberra's man in London, Alexander Downer, has dismissed claims that Australian governments are increasingly concentrating power in the hands of the executive, as he attended an event marking the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta.

Australia's high commissioner to the UK on Monday joined British Prime Minister David Cameron, royalty including the Queen, religious leaders and an audience of thousands in Surrey to celebrate the groundbreaking accord's role in helping define concepts such as the rule of law and equal rights for all.

The former Howard government minister praised the charter at Runnymede where King John in 1215 accepted the historic document which limited the power of the Crown.

"It limits the power of rulers - it used to be kings, now it's governments," Mr Downer told AAP.

"It's important that Australia is represented because Magna Carta gets to the heart of the legal system that we have in Australia to this very day."

There's been criticism in Australia, most prominently from Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs, that governments have increasingly concentrated power in the hands of the executive.

Prof Triggs has cited anti-terror laws, the detention of asylum seekers and a proposal to strip terror suspects of their citizenship.

But Mr Downer insisted governments weren't over-reaching.

"They were done within the rule of law," he said.

"You may or may not like the policies ... and academics are entitled to have their own views about the policies. That's part of the point, isn't it?

"But the laws are made by the parliament and that is also the point.

"The laws aren't arbitrarily just invented by the government and the government doesn't, in Australia, set itself up above the law."

The high commissioner declared: "Australia is a gleaming example of a country that applies the rule of law."

Prog Triggs on Monday argued Australia should consider a bill of rights to protect people against government excesses.

But Mr Downer noted the current Tony Abbott-led coalition government "has shown no enthusiasm for a bill of rights (and) nor has the Australian public".