ACTU to proceed with the application for disqualification of Dyson Heydon

The Australian Council of Trade Unions is all set to proceed with an application to disqualify Trade Unions Royal Commissioner Dyson Heydon. The application will be heard by the royal commissioner on Friday.

On August 14, the former High Court judge released records of his email exchanges with the organisers of an event he accepted to address. He admitted he was aware of its connection with the Liberal party but also said that he had no idea it was a party fundraiser. The Union had sought time until Thursday to consider the email exchanges between Heydon and the organisers and to decide on his disqualification. "I overlooked the connection between the person or persons organising the event and the Liberal Party," Heydon said.

ACTU Secretary Dave Oliver said that Heydon’s decision to deliver speech at the event, despite being aware of its connection with the Liberal party, gives a sense of bias even though he withdrew his decision to be present at the event. Prime Minister Tony Abbott, however, termed the move towards disqualifying Heydon, whom he called one of the most highly regarded judges of Australia, as a “hysterical and hypocritical attack.”

"The ACTU has always maintained that the royal commission is a political witch hunt by Tony Abbott designed to weaken his political opponents," Secretary Dave Oliver said in a statement. "When it came to light that Commissioner Dyson Heydon had agreed to speak at a Liberal Party fundraiser, we called on Prime Minister Tony Abbott to shut down the royal commission. Given Tony Abbott has failed to act, the ACTU must now take further action."

According to AAP, during question time, Mr Abbott has repeatedly tried to defend the royal commissioner by attacking the Opposition for their “vicious slander.” The legal experts are of the opinion that in case of disqualification of Heydon, the commission will follow a simple course to appoint a new royal commissioner in his place. So far, four people have been taken into custody by the Commission’s task force.

The ACTU has also appealed to the prime minister to stop wasting taxpayer money for fulfilling his own political goals and to shut down the Royal Commission into Trade Unions.

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