Updated
Federal Small Business Minister Michaelia Cash has denied she referred concerns about the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) to the Registered Organisations Commission (ROC) in 2017 because it involved Bill Shorten.
Key points:
- Senator Cash is giving evidence in a civil trial brought by the AWU attempting to halt the Registered Organisations Committee (ROC) investigation
- She told the court she did not direct the ROC to investigate the AWU
- Asked if she was aware the AFP had warrants to raid the AWU’s offices, she said “I watched it unfold on the television”
Instead, she said, she was concerned about allegations of a serious breach of the union’s rules.
In October 2017, the ROC — which was overseen by Senator Cash at the time — began looking into a $100,000 donation by the AWU to the activist group GetUp! in 2006, when Mr Shorten was head of the union.
The union’s offices were raided that same month and the AWU is seeking to shut down the investigation, which also followed two letters from Senator Cash to the ROC in August 2017.
Senator Cash is giving evidence in the Federal Court, which is hearing a civil trial brought by the AWU as part of efforts to bring a halt to the investigation.
Senator Cash said she asked her staff to consult the department about an article in The Australian that set out the claims against the AWU.
“… given what I believed were significant issues that had been raised of potential non-compliance of that registered organisation’s rules [the AWU]”, she added.
She was asked by Justice Mordecai Bromberg to clarify her interest in Bill Shorten’s involvement.
“There wasn’t really interest [in Bill Shorten],” she said.
“My concern at the time was what I believed were serious allegations about a potential breach of union rules,” Senator Cash responded.
Who’s who in the witness box:
- Senator Michaelia Cash: WA Senator who was the Federal Minister for Jobs at the time. She has repeatedly and vehemently denied knowledge of the media tip-off, which came from her office.
- David De Garis: Senator Cash’s media advisor at the time who admitted to tipping off the media, and resigned. He now works for the Australian Hotels Association based in Perth.
- Mark Lee: Media advisor at the time at the Fair Work Ombudsman which also assists the Registered Organisations Commissioner. He was formerly a media advisor to the former Victorian premier Denis Napthine. At the time of the raids he was expecting to join Senator Cash’s office as a media advisor, but after the raids that did not happen.
- Ben Davies: Chief of staff for Senator Cash at the time. He left the office a few months later. In 2011, he worked in the office of Victoria’s then attorney-general, Robert Clarke.
- Chris Enright: Executive director of the Registered Organisations Commission who wrote to the AWU two months before the raids advising of the ROC investigation
Senator Cash told the court she wrote two letters of referral about the AWU donations to the ROC after her office got advice from the Employment Department.
She told the court she could not direct the ROC to investigate.
“The ROC is independent … independent from government,” she said.
“The commissioner makes his own decisions.”
Senator Cash said she found out about the ROC investigation on Oct 23, 2017 — the day before the raids.
“They [the ROC] must have established the facts, which meant they had reason to investigate … unauthorised use of members’ money”, she told the court.
“It was not for me to be pleased or not,” Senator Cash told the court.
The court heard Senator Cash was not aware her chief of staff, Ben Davies, had spoken to the ROC’s executive director Chris Enright in August 2017.
“At the time I was not,” she testified.
She said she became aware of a file note about the discussion between Mr Enright and Mr Davies only during the document discovery process in this case.
Mr Davies is also a witness in the case.
The court has heard he was tipped off about the October 24 raid by Mark Lee, who was doing media advisory work to the ROC at the time.
Court documents show Mr Lee had been offered employment in Senator Cash’s office, it heard.
Mr Davies then told Senator Cash’s media advisor David De Garis of the raids.
Mr De Garis alerted Michael Tetlow, who was in then Justice Michael Keenan’s office.
Both men then called news outlets to encourage them to attend the AWU’s offices in Melbourne and Sydney to await the AFP officers.
Minister questioned about adverse media coverage
The union is also seeking information about what the Senator knew about the media tip-off.
Senator Cash was asked if she was aware of the AFP warrants before the raids took place.
“I watched it unfold on the television,” she told the court.
Earlier she was asked about whether her office tried to get “adverse media” coverage of Mr Shorten.
“Only in so far as there is a contrast in policy,” Senator Cash said.
“Not Mr Shorten personally, but in relation to policies Mr Shorten supports, as leader of the Labor Party, as [they are] opposed to policies and philosophies the Liberal and National parties support.”
The trial continues.
Topics:
vic,
nsw,
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