Scope and Time Frame of Royal Commission into Union Governance and Corruption Extended
Thursday 9 October 2014 @ 9.40 a.m. | Industrial Law | Legal Research
In an earlier post we reported on the Federal Government's announcement of, ". . . a wide ranging Royal Commission to inquire not only into specific allegations of corruption in the building industry but into the operation of five major unions, some of which are not connected to the building industry with the potential to take inquiries further" (see our report of 10 February 2014, Government Announces Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption).As of Tuesday 7 October 2014, it appears that the Federal Government has opted to "take inquiries further" by announcing that it is, "beefing up funding and extending the royal commission into trade unions to further probe evidence of widespread criminal conduct". As well the date by which the Commission is to report is to be extended from the end of this year (2014) until the end of next year (December 2015).
Reasons for Extension
The announcement of the extension of time for reporting and scope of the Commission's inquiry by Federal Attorney-General George Brandis (the AG), as reported by The Australian, cites the justification for the measures as:
". . . responding to what the Royal Commissioner has said to us [the Government], . . ." namely, that ". . .the inquiry had revealed evidence of criminal conduct, including widespread instances of physical and verbal violence, cartel conduct, secondary boycotts, contempt of court and other orders, and the encouragement of others to commit these contempts".
The AG is reported as releasing a supporting letter from Royal Commissioner Heydon, that indicates that there is ". . . a lot of unfinished business for the Royal Commission to look at before its current 31 December 2014 deadline" and using this letter to justify the extension of the Commission for another year to 31 December 2015. Further in the letter released by the AG the Commissioner is reported as saying:
"Some officials appear to regard their unions as having immunity not only from the norms and sanctions of the Australian legal system but also from any social or community standard shared by other Australians."
On the basis of this information, the AG is reported to have written to the Governor-General formally requesting the changes to the time for reporting and the scope of the Commission's inquiry.
The AG is reported as saying that the Federal Government has now realised that:
". . . the problem of criminality and the associations between certain unions and certain union officials and crime is a much more widespread problem than appeared to be the case when, at the beginning of this year [2014], the Government decided to establish the royal commission."
The Commission will still deliver an interim report on 14 December 2014 this year, which the AG has indicate will be made public.
Reaction to Extension of the Commission
When the announcement of the Commission was initially posted it was reported that:
"The Commission is expected to run for 12 months but given the breadth of its power and the expectation that politically the government will not be rushing to wind it up the final date of reporting may be a lot further off."
A year, one might argue is more fortuitous to the Government than any other party involved, as it will now be receiving the Commission's report just before the next election - a view leveled as criticism by Labor of this action by the AG and the Government. As the ABC reports, the Federal Opposition (through Shadow AG Mark Dreyfus) has said the AG needs to justify the decision:
"This extension doesn't change what this royal commission is - a desperate and shameless use of executive power for the Government's own political advantage, . . . It's not clear from Commissioner Heydon's letter that the royal commission requested an extension of time or additional resources . . . Senator Brandis needs to justify his decision to provide additional funding if the royal commission didn't request it."
Labor and the Unions assert that: "criminal behaviour, whether in a union or in a private company, should be a matter for the police to investigate, not a matter for politicians."
The Federal AG is reported as saying that he rejects Labor and Union criticism, saying the extension was not politically motivated:
"This is about the criminal law and the compliance by important and powerful institutions in our society and economy with the law, . . ."
What Next?
The Commission's Interim report will be interesting, even if a little predictable in terms of its likely contents.
Even more interesting is the evolution of a process where the sins of the past government and winning points in opposition can be kept alive well past opposition and into government by way of Commissions of Inquiry such as we have recently seen in the Pink Batts matter, the Unions Commission and even the ICAC hearings in NSW. A trend finding its ultimate expression in the recently reported by TimeBase PUP sponsored Senate Inquiry into the Queensland Government.
TimeBase is an independent, privately owned Australian legal publisher specialising in the online delivery of accurate, comprehensive and innovative legislation research tools including LawOne and unique Point-in-Time Products.
