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| Dyson Heydon hears requests to withdraw from trade union royal commission - live | Dyson Heydon hears requests to withdraw from trade union royal commission - live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 10.28am AEST01:28 | |
| 'The relief sought is that the commissioner recuse himself' | |
| The ACTU’s written submission spells out the stark choice facing the commissioner, Dyson Heydon. The final two paragraphs explain the action sought in the ACTU’s application: | |
| 115. The relief sought is that the Commissioner recuse himself, and determine that he should not continue with any part of the inquiry that concerns the conduct of any union and, if he thinks it appropriate, resign his commission forthwith. | |
| 116. No lesser or qualified form of relief is appropriate given the subject matter of the Commission, the continual reference in the Commission to the political context, and the future desire of the Commission to make recommendations for reform. | |
| 10.24am AEST01:24 | |
| The royal commission has just released the submissions from the union bodies, and also a submission from the counsel assisting. | |
| The ACTU submission, which is being considered first, sets out the key point: | |
| The Unions apply for the Commissioner to recuse himself and resign his commission forthwith on the ground that he is unable to afford any union or any person associated with any union procedural fairness as a result of his apprehended bias. | |
| The submission also sets out the political context of the royal commission: | |
| The union movement in Australia has always been and remains inextricably connected to the Australian Labor Party. In Australian political terms the Liberal Party and the Labor Party are natural rivals and adversaries. Since the second world war, either one of them has been effectively the Government of the day or the opposition party in the Commonwealth and most State parliaments... | |
| The political context is also borne out by two witnesses called by the Commission. In the current round of hearings the Commission called Mr Bill Shorten, the Federal Member for Maribyrnong and current Leader of the Australian Labor Party, as a witness. In the previous round the Commission called Ms Julia Gillard, the former Prime Minister and former leader of the Australian Labor Party, as a witness. Serious allegations of wrongdoing were explored with each of them in circumstances of enormous publicity reflecting the public interest in such matters. | |
| The ACTU submission says if the work of the commission had not been so politically charged “then perhaps an agreement to speak at a party political event during the course of a Royal Commission would create no real problem or difficulty, or no real problem or difficulty of any moment”, but it was not possible for the fair-minded lay observer to divorce from his or her consideration of the commissioner’s position the highly charged political nature of this commission. | |
| 10.15am AEST01:15 | |
| 'Try and open your mind', union lawyer tells Heydon | |
| Robert Newlinds, representing the ACTU, opens the union movement’s case by pointing to Heydon’s comment that he will be unable to give the Sir Garfield Barwick address “at least whilst he is in the position of royal commissioner.” | |
| We think it’s clear enough, and would be readily apparent to the hypothetical, reasonable observer that as of today, looking forward, your position is that you are prepared, once this commission concludes, to speak at a Liberal party fundraiser...the submission is that the reasonable observer might apprehend that you might not be able to bring an impartial mind to the issues at hand. | |
| Now, I immediately appreciate that you are not going to embrace that submission because you’ve made no secret of that fact so I start, I understand, from the proposition that you have already formed your own view that that position is appropriate. And I accept that. But of course I have to make the submission that your own subjective view is irrelevant. | |
| What one must do, and the reason I say that is not because you are an irrelevant person, it’s because if ever there is someone who doesn’t fit the description of the reasonable hypothetical lay observer it is you, commissioner. So the question becomes, and I would ask you and I know you will, to try and open your mind to this wider question which is objectively is there sufficient problem with the circumstance that I’ve just outlined so as to create what the law has called apprehended bias. | |
| 10.10am AEST01:10 | |
| Robert Newlinds is representing the ACTU: | |
| So I understand you’ve read the written submissions. | |
| Heydon: | |
| I have ... I’ve read them several times. | |
| 10.04am AEST01:04 | 10.04am AEST01:04 |
| The order of the proceedings will be: | The order of the proceedings will be: |
| 10.03am AEST01:03 | 10.03am AEST01:03 |
| The hearing has begun with some housekeeping about correspondence. The counsel assisting Jeremy Stoljar is tendering documents and correspondence about the union submissions. Dyson Heydon is entering them into evidence: | The hearing has begun with some housekeeping about correspondence. The counsel assisting Jeremy Stoljar is tendering documents and correspondence about the union submissions. Dyson Heydon is entering them into evidence: |
| I have received those submissions and I should indicate I have read them. | I have received those submissions and I should indicate I have read them. |
| 10.00am AEST01:00 | 10.00am AEST01:00 |
| Whether or not Heydon agrees to recuse himself from the royal commission, the outcome of today’s hearing will have political repercussions. | Whether or not Heydon agrees to recuse himself from the royal commission, the outcome of today’s hearing will have political repercussions. |
| Tony Abbott, who established the commission shortly after the 2013 election, has defended the exercise as a vital task necessary to clean up unions, and has sought to target Bill Shorten over the agreements he presided over in his pre-parliamentary career as the Victorian and national secretary of the AWU. Shorten himself was questioned by the commission for two days in July, and Heydon at one stage raised a question about Shorten’s credibility as a witness. Abbott had been positioning himself for a possibile election platform that included cracking down on dodgy union officials. | Tony Abbott, who established the commission shortly after the 2013 election, has defended the exercise as a vital task necessary to clean up unions, and has sought to target Bill Shorten over the agreements he presided over in his pre-parliamentary career as the Victorian and national secretary of the AWU. Shorten himself was questioned by the commission for two days in July, and Heydon at one stage raised a question about Shorten’s credibility as a witness. Abbott had been positioning himself for a possibile election platform that included cracking down on dodgy union officials. |
| Labor and the trade unions had always maintained their claim that the whole royal commission was established as a “witch hunt” against the Liberal party’s political enemies - which is why Heydon’s initial agreement to speak at a Liberal event was so politically explosive. | Labor and the trade unions had always maintained their claim that the whole royal commission was established as a “witch hunt” against the Liberal party’s political enemies - which is why Heydon’s initial agreement to speak at a Liberal event was so politically explosive. |
| If Heydon decides to reject the applications to withdraw from the royal commission, there is no doubt that those adversely named in the final report will seek to point to the fundraiser claims as undermining the credibility of the findings. | If Heydon decides to reject the applications to withdraw from the royal commission, there is no doubt that those adversely named in the final report will seek to point to the fundraiser claims as undermining the credibility of the findings. |
| And if Heydon decides to step aside, it will be a major embarrassment for Abbott, who has staunchly defended Heydon as a distinguished former high court judge who was being unfairly smeared. The government would then have to make a decision about whether to try to continue an inquiry into union corruption with a different, replacement commissioner. | And if Heydon decides to step aside, it will be a major embarrassment for Abbott, who has staunchly defended Heydon as a distinguished former high court judge who was being unfairly smeared. The government would then have to make a decision about whether to try to continue an inquiry into union corruption with a different, replacement commissioner. |
| 9.48am AEST00:48 | 9.48am AEST00:48 |
| The fate of the commission hangs in the balance because of an outcry from Labor and unions after revelations Heydon initially accepted an invitation to speak at a Liberal party fundraiser. | The fate of the commission hangs in the balance because of an outcry from Labor and unions after revelations Heydon initially accepted an invitation to speak at a Liberal party fundraiser. |
| Heydon, who pulled out of the Sir Garfield Barwick address last week, said he had “overlooked” the Liberal party connection when he was contacted by the organiser in March 2015, and also overlooked the fact his agreement in 2014 to speak at the event had been conditional on the commission’s work having been completed. | Heydon, who pulled out of the Sir Garfield Barwick address last week, said he had “overlooked” the Liberal party connection when he was contacted by the organiser in March 2015, and also overlooked the fact his agreement in 2014 to speak at the event had been conditional on the commission’s work having been completed. |
| In an explanation he offered during a commission hearing on Monday, Heydon said he had not read the attachments of a June 2015 email that contained an invitation and Liberal party donation information, but his “understanding at all times has been that the dinner was not to be a fundraiser”. | In an explanation he offered during a commission hearing on Monday, Heydon said he had not read the attachments of a June 2015 email that contained an invitation and Liberal party donation information, but his “understanding at all times has been that the dinner was not to be a fundraiser”. |
| 9.44am AEST00:44 | 9.44am AEST00:44 |
| Hello and welcome to our rolling coverage of a special hearing of the royal commission into trade union governance and corruption. Unlike previous hearings into the conduct of unions, the subject today will be the future of commissioner Dyson Heydon. The hearing is due to begin in Sydney at 10am. | Hello and welcome to our rolling coverage of a special hearing of the royal commission into trade union governance and corruption. Unlike previous hearings into the conduct of unions, the subject today will be the future of commissioner Dyson Heydon. The hearing is due to begin in Sydney at 10am. |
| Heydon will consider three submissions asking for his recusal. | Heydon will consider three submissions asking for his recusal. |
| The Australian Council of Trade Unions has lodged an application on behalf of Unions New South Wales and four unions – the Health Services Union, the Transport Workers Union, the Maritime Union of Australia and the CEPU, which represents plumbing and communications workers. The push is supported by the CFMEU and Australian Workers Union, which have lodged their own submissions. | The Australian Council of Trade Unions has lodged an application on behalf of Unions New South Wales and four unions – the Health Services Union, the Transport Workers Union, the Maritime Union of Australia and the CEPU, which represents plumbing and communications workers. The push is supported by the CFMEU and Australian Workers Union, which have lodged their own submissions. |
| Heydon has signalled he may not make a decision at the hearing on Friday. A spokesman for the commission said if Heydon did not determine the application at the conclusion of the oral hearing “he will deliver his ruling as soon as possible thereafter, possibly on Tuesday 25 August”. | Heydon has signalled he may not make a decision at the hearing on Friday. A spokesman for the commission said if Heydon did not determine the application at the conclusion of the oral hearing “he will deliver his ruling as soon as possible thereafter, possibly on Tuesday 25 August”. |