Dyson Heydon to remain as Trade Union Royal Commissioner

Dyson Heydon dismissed an application by the unions for him to step down from the role of Trade Union Royal commissioner and will continue to remain at the helm of the trade unions’ affairs. In a statement to the Commission, Heydon said he is confident that he is perfectly fit for the role.

A short hearing took place on Monday at which the unions presented an application asking for Heydon’s removal. A string of email exchanges suggested Heydon was forced to reconsider accepting an invitation to speak at a Liberal party-backed event. "I have considered all the submissions. In my opinion, the applications must be dismissed. I publish my reasons," Heydon said at the end of the five-minute hearing. He also said that he will continue to oversee the probe into union corruption.

He also dismissed the unions’ allegations on his acceptance to speak at the Sir Garfield Barwick event. He said that merely accepting to speak at an event doesn’t prove that one is biased towards a particular party.

While the Tony Abbott government has welcomed the change, the unions said that they would carefully go through the judgement first and then decide whether they would appeal.

Despite Heydon’s withdrawal from the event, the unions claimed that his mere acceptance of the invitation shows allegiance to the Liberal Party. It was left upon Heydon to decide on his position. The decision was first delayed from Tuesday to Friday and then after fresh evidence surfaced, it was finally fixed on Monday.

The latest finds showed that Heydon declined to speak for the event after he was alerted by Jeremy Stoljar SC, the counsel assisting him, about the possible Liberal Party link to it. The Commission heard on Monday that Heydon received three sets of written submissions from Australian Council of Trade Unions, the Australian Workers Union, and Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union.

In his reasons for not resigning, Heydon noted that he only reads printed copies of emails that are sent to him and in this case he did not read.

"It's a decision that I was privately expecting because the case for apprehended bias, applying the appropriate legal tests is so thin," Senator George Brandis told Sky News, saying he was not surprised by Hedyon's decision.

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