THE HON MARK DREYFUS QC MP
SHADOW ATTORNEY-GENERAL
ACTING SHADOW MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS
MEMBER FOR ISAACS
ROYAL COMMISSION DAMAGED BEYOND REPAIR
Tony Abbott's royal commission has descended into high farce, riddled with political bias.
Labor has said from day one that Tony Abbott's royal commission is an exercise to smear his political rivals - and taxpayers are copping the bill for $80 million.
There is no doubt that this scandal has damaged the royal commission beyond repair.
It's clear that Australians no longer have confidence in the royal commission to operate free from political bias.
Tony Abbott should have accepted responsibility and removed Dyson Heydon AC QC from his commission - Dyson Heydon sat in judgement of himself because Tony Abbott has failed to act.
Labor's concerns about Dyson Heydon's conduct have not been satisfied by anything he has said today.
Labor has consistently said there should be zero tolerance for corruption or criminal activity in the workplace. Whether by an employer, employee or a union, corruption should face the full force of the law, and be dealt with by the police.
Labor is calling on the Government to reconsider our proposal in February last year for a high-powered national Joint Police Taskforce to tackle any criminality right now.
The police should be taking action if there is criminality, not the hand-picked candidate of the Liberal Party.
This taskforce should have been launched at the start of last year as Labor called for, but instead Tony Abbott persisted with his royal commission to try to smear his political rivals.
In Government Labor gave the Fair Work Commission the ability to assist with specific police investigations, powers which stand to greatly assist police investigating any criminal allegations.
MONDAY, 31 AUGUST 2015
