AFP to refer AWU raid leaks by Senator Cash’s office to prosecutor

AN Australian Federal Police investigation into raids on the Australian Workers’ Union is set to be referred to the Commonwealth prosecutor.

A FEDERAL police investigation into raids on the Australian Workers’ Union is set to be referred to the Commonwealth prosecutor.

It is understood the Australian Federal Police has confirmed to the union it will have material with the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions in the next two weeks.

Australian Federal Police officers raided AWU headquarters in Melbourne and Sydney last October as part of an investigation by the Registered Organisations Commission.

Australian Federal Police leave after conducting a raid on the Australian Workers Union building in Melbourne. Picture: Stuart McEvoy / The Australian.

The raids drew scrutiny because journalists arrived at the offices before police, thanks to a tip-off from the office of federal Jobs Minister Michaelia Cash.

AWU national secretary Daniel Walton said it was troubling but not surprising the AFP had moved to refer the investigation to the commonwealth prosecutor.

“From the information in the public domain, it seems abundantly clear that Senator Cash and her office were abusing their power by using taxpayer-funded institutions to go after their political enemies,” Mr Walton said in a statement.

AWU national secretary Daniel Walton and secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Sally McManus as the raids were conducted. Picture: Aaron Francis/The Australian

“Senator Cash and her government are obsessed with harming unions and their members.” Mr Walton said the developments were “more trouble” for Senator Cash and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

“Clearly the AFP have learned enough here to believe it warrants the attention of the prosecutor,” he said.

The case was in court on Monday, with the next administrative proceeding set down for August 21 ahead of September’s hearing.

David De Garis from Senator Michaelia Cash's office allegedly leaked details of the AWU raids to media. He has since resigned from his position.

Labor’s workplace relations spokesman Brendan O’Connor took to social media to call for Minister Cash to reveal her role in the incident.

“It’s time Senator Cash stopped avoiding scrutiny following reports the AFP is referring to the CDPP its investigation into the unlawful leak to the media of the ROC raid on the AWU. What role did she play in the leak? Is she a witness or is she under investigation?” he said.

It's time @SenatorCash stopped avoiding scrutiny following reports the AFP is referring to the CDPP its investigation into the unlawful leak to the media of the ROC raid on the AWU. What role did she play in the leak? Is she a witness or is she under investigation? #auspol

— Brendan O'Connor (@BOConnorMP) July 30, 2018

Senator Cash has repeatedly said she had no knowledge of the raids before they occurred.

Her senior media adviser, David De Garis, resigned in October after admitting he told media the police were about to raid AWU offices.

Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus said Minister Cash had “very big questions to answer” over the incident, given the tip off came from her office.

She also slammed the Registered Organisations Commission, which ordered the raids initially, as a “politicised authority” established by the Turnbull Government to go after unions.

And the raids were over “trivial” matters, she said.

“They were about minutes from a meeting that were held over 10 years ago about a donation to an NGO, to GetUp,” she said.

“That is disgraceful in our country that a government could be involved in raiding working peoples’ offices over anything, let alone something so trivial.

Ms McManus added the AFP had been investigating the incident for 279 days.

“What we know today is that they have referred the matter to the DPP. They would not do that lightly. They would only do that if they believed laws might have been broken and that it’s up to the DPP to pursue those,” she said.

A spokeswoman for Minister Cash said the investigation was a matter for the AFP but specified that “there is no suggestion that there is any investigation or referral in relation to Minister Cash, given she had nothing to do with any alleged unauthorised disclosure, as has repeatedly made clear”.

“This is another attempt by the AWU to distract from the real issue in this case - which is whether Bill Shorten as a union leader secretly donated member money to his own organisation and own election campaign,” she said.

The Registered Organisations Commission requested the raids to establish if a $100,000 payment to GetUp! was approved by the AWU national executive when Mr Shorten was at the helm.