Labor frontbencher Brendan O’Connor has launched a blistering attack on the royal commission into trade unions less than a week before his party leader, Bill Shorten, is due to be questioned.
O’Connor accused the royal commission’s officers of acting in a “sensational” manner, denying people natural justice and feeding unsubstantiated allegations to the media.
Although O’Connor and other Labor figures have previously directed criticism at the Coalition for setting up the inquiry as a “political witch hunt”, he went further on Thursday by questioning the conduct and integrity of the officers of the commission.
The royal commission, headed by former high court judge John Dyson Heydon, will question Shorten in Sydney on Wednesday about his time at the helm of the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU).
The inquiry is investigating the AWU’s agreements with particular employers and the purpose of payments from those companies to the union.
O’Connor, who is Labor’s employment and industrial relations spokesman, said Shorten was willing to cooperate because he had nothing to hide. O’Connor then proceeded to criticise the inquiry’s conduct, referring to “allegations which are not substantiated yet fed to the media by officers of the commission”.
“Any independent observer would conclude to date that this commission ... has been prejudicial, it has acted in a sensational manner about matters that are not proven, it has made findings against people who have not been called and has not made findings against those where there is damning evidence already given.”
“There are findings against people in the interim report and yet those people have not even been called to give evidence. There are denials of natural justice.”
O’Connor noted Shorten was the third Labor leader – after Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd – to be called to give evidence to a royal commission established by Tony Abbott. He accused the prime minister of misusing $80m of taxpayers’ money to “go after” the Coalition’s political opponents.
Describing the inquiry as a fishing expedition without any boundaries, O’Connor said it was further evidence of “a politically motivated witch-hunt where they are calling into question innocent people, and dragging them into this matter – it doesn’t seem there is any threshold here, any boundaries, when it comes to these matters”.
O’Connor accused the royal commission’s officers of acting in a “sensational” manner, denying people natural justice and feeding unsubstantiated allegations to the media.
Although O’Connor and other Labor figures have previously directed criticism at the Coalition for setting up the inquiry as a “political witch hunt”, he went further on Thursday by questioning the conduct and integrity of the officers of the commission.
The royal commission, headed by former high court judge John Dyson Heydon, will question Shorten in Sydney on Wednesday about his time at the helm of the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU).
The inquiry is investigating the AWU’s agreements with particular employers and the purpose of payments from those companies to the union.
O’Connor, who is Labor’s employment and industrial relations spokesman, said Shorten was willing to cooperate because he had nothing to hide. O’Connor then proceeded to criticise the inquiry’s conduct, referring to “allegations which are not substantiated yet fed to the media by officers of the commission”.
“Any independent observer would conclude to date that this commission ... has been prejudicial, it has acted in a sensational manner about matters that are not proven, it has made findings against people who have not been called and has not made findings against those where there is damning evidence already given.”
“There are findings against people in the interim report and yet those people have not even been called to give evidence. There are denials of natural justice.”
O’Connor noted Shorten was the third Labor leader – after Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd – to be called to give evidence to a royal commission established by Tony Abbott. He accused the prime minister of misusing $80m of taxpayers’ money to “go after” the Coalition’s political opponents.
Describing the inquiry as a fishing expedition without any boundaries, O’Connor said it was further evidence of “a politically motivated witch-hunt where they are calling into question innocent people, and dragging them into this matter – it doesn’t seem there is any threshold here, any boundaries, when it comes to these matters”.
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