Labor calls for Michaelia Cash to resign over AWU raid, accuses Malcolm Turnbull of involvement
BILL Shorten has called on Malcolm Turnbull to sack Michaelia Cash for misleading the Senate over the AWU raid scandal, as Labor claimed her version did not add up.
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MALCOLM Turnbull has been called on to sack Michaelia Cash for “breaching ministerial standards” for misleading the senate.
Labor MP Tony Burke called on the Prime Minister to fire Senator Cash as Employment Minister in Question Time today.
He made a bid to suspend standing orders to debate the AWU raid media tip-off scandal.
Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese seconded the motion. “It’s time to cash out this Minister,” he shouted across the chamber.
About 70 per cent of the more than 3400 readers who have voted in News Corp’s poll agree Senator Cash should stand down over the incident.
Mr Burke also called on the Prime Minister to “explain to the house his involvement, his office’s involvement and his government’s involvement in this serious public matter where the
public statement of events does not add up”.
Should Michaelia Cash stand down? Vote in our poll below.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said Australia has a “grubby government” and an “increasingly grubby Prime Minister”.
He said Turnbull’s attacks on him and the AWU are “classic overreach” and leading a government of “born to rule elitist minds”.
“Deep down every member of the government knows that their Prime Minister lacks judgment,” he said.
“This born to rule Prime Minister thinks he is above the rules.
“These conservatives think they are born to rule and that they are always right despite the facts.”
He says it is part of an “ideological obsession” of the government to attack unions and workers.
TURNBULL AND SHORTEN’S FEUD
Mr Turnbull and Mr Shorten locked horns in Question Time over the AWU AFP raid scandal.
The Prime Minister defended Senator Cash, highlighting the industrial relations crackdown she had overseen as Minister, while slamming Mr Shorten’s track record as a union leader.
“She was misled, as she said,” Mr Turnbull said.
“And once her staffer told her the truth and made the admission that he had done the wrong thing, she corrected the record.
“She acted entirely properly.
“That stands in stark contrast to the actions of the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Speaker.
“It is not a question of his staff.
“It is a question of the people that own him.
“He is a wholly owned subsidiary of the CFMEU.
“He is a wholly owned subsidiary of a trade union, a military trade union, cashed up and powerful, that defies the law.”
Mr Turnbull dodged a question from Labor frontbencher Tony Burke on why he had not questioned whether anyone from senator Cash’s office had leaked the information during their pre-Question Time meeting yesterday.
Instead, he outlined the facts of the meeting.
“The minister gave me the assurance,” he said.
“I told the house about it yesterday, that she had not disclosed the matter to journalists before the raid. And that was the assurance that she gave me. Subsequently, as honourable members know, her media adviser admitted of his wrongful conduct and he has resigned.”
Labor MPs almost shouted down Mr Turnbull when he said: “The fact is what Senator Cash has done is she has ensured that the standards of integrity and impartiality are applied to the union movement.”
“That’s what she has done, and in a way that the Leader of the Opposition never did, trading away penalty rates, taking money from employers, Mr Speaker, that was the pattern, and that is coming to an end because of legislation we passed and they opposed.”
Mr Shorten had asked if the Prime Minister could confirm if Senator Cash had admitted she had misled the senate after “realising the truth had been exposed”.
The union movement has also started a hashtag on social media as the saga continues of #CashOut
AFP DEFENDS ITSELF
AFP Commissioner Andrew Colvin has slammed reports police raids on the Australian Workers’ Union officers were the result of “political interference”.
It comes as Employment Minister Michaelia Cash says she will not step down after her chief media adviser admitted to tipping off journalists about the raid.
Commissioner Andrew Colvin put out a statement today rejecting “in the strongest terms” any suggestion the Australian Federal Police had raided the AWU offices after interference from the government.
“The AFP has this week been the subject of commentary and innuendo regarding its independence and the ability of AFP members to carry out their work objectively and without political interference,” he said.
“The AFP requires the ongoing assistance and support of the public to serve the community in which we all live, and undertakes its activities without fear or favour - the AFP rejects in the strongest terms any suggestion to the contrary.”
He also corrected false claims that up to 32 AFP officers had been involved in the raids, and said the force had “no operational reason to decline to execute a search warrant that was authorised by a magistrate”.
“The AFP deployed a total of 13 members across both cities – eight members in Melbourne and five in Sydney,” Commissioner Colvin said.
“Suggestions that more AFP members were involved are incorrect.”
CASH GRILLED ON WHAT SHE KNEW
Earlier today, Minister Cash was grilled in senate estimates about what she knew about her staffer tipping off the media to the raid.
Senator Cash said she was “disappointed” her chief media adviser David De Garis had misled her about the leak but that he was “brave” for eventually coming forward despite knowing he would lose his job.
Senator Cash - who is facing calls to resign over the scandal today - has also been grilled over whether she has changed her story about her meeting with the Prime Minister before Question Time yesterday. She said she has not considered resigning yet.
The senator told an estimates hearing last night Malcolm Turnbull did not ask her a single question during their meeting yesterday.
She had simply given him an assurance she had not personally told media about the raids before they occurred.
Today, she told the hearing Mr Turnbull had first asked her whether she gave the assurance.
When called on the discrepancy, she said there “may have been some pleasantries” first but stood by her previous answer the Prime Minister had not asked any questions.
The government has now been hit with a Freedom of Information request for details of what Senator Cash and Prime Minister Turnbull knew about the raid and when.
The AWU lodged the FOI request today.
“I find it incredible, absolutely incredible, that the minister would not have been made aware of these raids,” AWU National Secretary Daniel Walton said.
“She claimed she saw it on the news at the same time as a lot of Australians sitting around wondering why 32 AFP officers were being used to raid the AWU offices for a few indictments.
“I simply don’t accept that she was not made aware. Our FOI request is to get to the bottom of it.”
Labor frontbencher Tony Burke this morning questioned why the Prime Minister - a seasoned cross examiner - had not asked any questions, particularly given Mr De Garis had attended the meeting with Senator Cash.
At the end of the grilling, Senator Murray Watt asked her: “How can the Senate or the Australian public ever believe anything you or your office say again?”
Senator Cash repeated her previous answer, saying: “As I previously indicated, I was not aware of the raids until I watched them on the television.”
MORE: When political staffers become the story
WHAT WE STILL DON’T KNOW
- Did the Prime Minister’s Office know the media had been tipped off about the AWU raid?
Senator Cash has been unable to confirm whether Mr De Garis told anyone in the PMO about the media tip off because she has been able to reach him since early last night.
- Who told Mr De Garis about the raid?
Only a small number of people knew the raid was going ahead. That includes the small team at the ROC, which is about 20 people, AFP officers, the Magistrate that signed the warrant, a FWO media liaison, and a legal adviser to the ROC.
- What did Minister Cash and the Prime Minister know about the media tip off and when?
The AWU has lodged an FOI to find out more about what they both knew but Minister Cash is standing by her claim that she only knew about the tip off once Mr De Garis came forward.
- Did the ROC Commissioner mislead the senate estimates hearing?
ROC Commissioner Mark Bielecki initially told the hearing the AWU had not given all documents to the ROC when asked in August. He suggested the raid would not have needed to go ahead if the AWU had complied. Two hours later the Commissioner backflipped and said the AWU had complied with all requests. He blamed the error on him mistaking the AWU for another organisation.
CASH WANTS AFP TO INVESTIGATE
Senator Cash has recommended the Australian Federal Police investigate the circumstances around media being tipped off to police raids on the Australian Workers’ Union after one of her own staff admitted to being the leak.
Senator Cash wrote to the Registered Organisations Commissioner Mark Bielecki recommending that the AFP investigate the media tip off about its own raid.
“It appears that information may have been inappropriately divulged,” Senator Cash wrote in the letter, which she read to a Senate estimates hearing today.
She asked that the Registered Organisations Commission outline the steps it was taking to “establish the facts of this matter”.
“I note that as Minister, I do not have the power to direct you in relation to such a matter, however one course of action which I would ask you to consider is referring the matter to the Australian Federal Police,” she wrote.
Commissioner Bielecki told the hearing he would need to discuss the matter with ROC staff before taking any further steps.
Senator Cash stood by the evidence she gave yesterday that she was unaware of her staffer’s involvement until late yesterday evening.
“My staff member misled me. I am incredibly disappointed,” she told Labor senators in estimates today.
She then fired back, highlighting the recent involvement of Labor frontbencher Penny Wong’s staffer in speaking to the New Zealand Labour Party about citizenship status in a move that eventually led to Barnaby Joyce being made aware he was a dual citizen.
“As Senator Wong also stated in all of the evidence she gave, she was not aware.”
Senator Cash praised her staffer this morning for eventually coming forward.
“It is actually very brave of him to also come forward and to admit his mistake and lose his employment as a result of what he did,” she said.
“Unlike many others who lie every single day of the week, I will not get into that now, but this staff member came forward and admitted to me he had misled me.”
CASH SAYS SHE WAS UNAWARE
Senator Cash told the hearing she had asked the relevant members of her staff yesterday about whether they knew about the raids or if they told media.
She was told ‘No’.
A “very distressed” staff member then confessed after Senator Cash returned to her office last night in the estimates dinner break to quiz them about a media report that journalists had confirmed her office tipped them off.
Labor senators also spent the morning trying to establish who told Mr De Garis about the AFP raid.
The estimates’ hearing was told the ROC media adviser did not inform anyone within the Minister’s department about the raid.
It was also revealed the ROC media liaison had help on the day of the raids from the Fair Work Ombudsman’s media adviser, who knew warrants had been sought from 12.30pm.
Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James told the hearing her adviser had not told journalists or anyone outside the agency about the raid until after it had begun.
“He had no communications with anyone about these matters outside the agency until after the searches commenced and he fielded calls from journalists and his response was he would have to get back to them,” she said.
ROC executive director Chris Enright told the meeting only his staff, which is a small team of about 20 people, a legal adviser, the AFP and the Magistrate knew about the warrant for the raid.
Labor senators have also questioned why Senator Cash was unable to contact Mr De Garis last night as a Fairfax journalist claimed he was able to reach him.
The Opposition is seeking to confirm whether Mr De Garis had told anyone in the Prime Minister’s Office that he had advised journalists of the raid.
Senator Cash said she was unable to reach him but had has instructed her office to contact him today to ascertain his wellbeing and request he attend a meeting with her this afternoon.
PM ‘UP TO HIS NECK’ IN SCANDAL
Malcolm Turnbull has also been accused of being “up to his neck” in the scandal surrounding raids on the AWU offices in Sydney and Melbourne.
Senator Cash and Mr De Garis attended a meeting with the Prime Minister before Question Time yesterday.
Labor frontbencher Tony Burke this morning said it was not credible for Minister Cash or Malcolm Turnbull to not know the truth, if the staffer had attended the meeting.
The urgent meeting was called after Labor MP Anthony Albanese had earlier that day accused Senator Cash of personally tipping off the media.
“We’re meant to believe that with the member of staff who made those calls there with her, Michaelia Cash told the Prime Minister ‘oh with that Anthony Albanese allegation, I never made any calls,” Mr Burke told Sky News.
“And we’re meant to believe that is it — that Malcolm Turnbull, who is a trained cross examiner, never said ‘no, no, no, the allegations are about your office and your office is there with you’.
“Either Malcolm Turnbull did ask and we’re not being told — or he knew to not ask.”
CASH REPEATS HER DENIALS
Senator Cash denied five times in a Senate estimates hearing yesterday that her office leaked the
information about the raids to journalists.
.@Tony_Burke: It defies belief that your staff can watch you mislead the parliament five times. MORE: https://t.co/bFyJSTsFpM pic.twitter.com/lT58r1iX5J
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) October 25, 2017
She then told the hearing later in the evening that her chief media adviser, Mr De Garis, had admitted responsibility to her last night.
“Two things we know for sure; one, Michaelia Cash has to go, and two, the prime minister is up to his neck in this,” Mr Burke said this morning.
Media had arrived at the AWU offices on Tuesday 15 minutes before Australian Federal Police arrived to raid the buildings for documents relating to Labor leader Bill Shorten’s donation to activist group GetUp! ten years ago.
TURNBULL GOVT MPS DEFEND CASH
Turnbull Government Ministers this morning defended Senator Cash, saying she could not have misled the senate if she did not know about the leak.
“The fact that the senior adviser did not volunteer the information to what was effectively his boss, I agree, is a matter of enormous seriousness but it doesn’t change the fact that he didn’t volunteer the information — Michaelia Cash simply didn’t know,” Social Services Minister Christian Porter told Sky News.
“I’m sure there wouldn’t be a single person in government who would not prefer that staff member had not done the stupid thing that they did, not least of which because it places the Minister in obviously difficult circumstances, but it detracts from the fact that we’ve got a union that was raided for documents on credible information that those documents were going to be destroyed.
“The reality is that Ministers aren’t telepathic.”
Mr Porter said it was “utterly appropriate” for Mr De Garis to resign and indicated further action could be taken against him.
Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne said Mr De Garis’ mistake should not distract from possible wrongdoing by the AWU.
“The reality is Michaelia Cash told the Senate the truth and as soon as she found out she’d been misled, she corrected the record,” Mr Pyne told reporters in Canberra.
“Now, that’s all you can ask her to do in the circumstances and I think she’s done the right thing.”
Mr Pyne told reporters the key issue was that the AWU did not pass over the documents that were required to the Registered Organisations Commission to prove the law had not been breached.
Commissioner Bielecki, however, told an estimates hearing last night that the union had fulfilled all requests to produce documents.
Mr Bielecki had initially told the hearing the AWU had not complied, but later corrected his answer, saying he had confused them with another union.
Tuesday’s raid is not the first time the Australian Federal Police have been accused of being a political tool.
Labor accused the Coalition government of using the AFP during the 2016 election campaign to raid the office of senior Labor senator Stephen Conroy and the Melbourne home of a Labor staffer over documents leaked from the National Broadband Network Co.
Two NBN Co employees were eventually sacked after documents were seized in the raids.
Originally published as Labor calls for Michaelia Cash to resign over AWU raid, accuses Malcolm Turnbull of involvement
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