The Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption has been going on for over a week and, despite some non-events making it into the headlines – see: The Australian tweeting how many times Bill Shorten took a sip of water and ABC’s Leigh Sales sticking a note to Buzzfeed’s Mark Di Stefano’s back – there have been a few revelations. Whether discoveries made so far are noteworthy or not would depend on which side of politics you ask.
Shorten, who has already accused the $80 million royal commission of being a witch-hunt, has now sent a message to Tony Abbott: if you really want to debate workplace relations, do it in Parliament.
“If Mr Abbott has the courage of his convictions, he shouldn’t be hiding behind a royal commission to do his political dirty work,” he told media yesterday.
“Have a debate with me in parliament or in any town hall about workplace relations.”
Shorten has been come under fire at the commission for, amongst other fun things, not declaring a $40,000 campaign donation made in 2007 until last Monday. (For a full summary of the inquiry so far, check out The Guardian’s live blog.)
Whilst Employment Minister Eric Abetz has said that “this Royal Commission has already revealed serious instances of abuse of power, apparent criminality and other corruption that needs to be addressed,” Shorten maintains that he is proud of his record of representing Australian working people while Victorian and national head of the Australian Workers Union, and that he relished “the opportunity and willingly cooperated with the royal commission.”
“I was willing to answer over 900 questions, funded by a taxpayer royal commission into politics of smear, but now it is time for the Liberal Government to get on with the job of running Australia, rather than engaging in political smear campaigns. Do your day job, Mr Abbott, that’s what Australians want to see you do.”
Senator Abetz, for his part, has promised more to come: “I think there’s a lot more to be seen here,” he told the Ten Network on Sunday.
Lead image: Stefan Postles via Getty Images.
