More than $600,000 in taxpayer funds used to defend AWU legal action

Hundreds of thousands of dollars has been spent fighting legal action over controversial police raids, it has been revealed.

Jobs Minister Michaelia Cash remains defiant over a subpoena requiring her to give evidence over raids at the AWU. Picture: AAP

More than $614,000 in taxpayers funds have so far been spent by government agencies defending legal action brought by the Australian Workers Union over the controversial police raids on its offices by the Registered Organisations Commission.

As Jobs Minister Michaelia Cash said she would challenge a subpoena requiring her to give evidence in the court proceedings, the Registered Organisations Commissioner, Mark Bielecki revealed his agency has so far spent $434, 646 paying lawyers to defend the case.

Lawyers for the Fair Work Ombudsman also told a Senate estimates hearing today its agency had spent $180,000 on external legal costs contesting a union subpoena.

The Federal Court has issued subpoenas requiring Senator Cash to appear to give evidence on August 1.

Subpoenas were also issued against her former senior media adviser, David De Garis, who was forced to resign last year, another former adviser, Mark Lee, and ROC official Chris Enright.

AWU national secretary, Daniel Walton. said the union had “long believed last year’s raid, and the investigation itself, to be unlawful.”

“We think it’s vital for the court is assisted by the evidence of witnesses who we believe are relevant to the issues in the case. That is why we sought subpoenas,’’ he said.

“If we are to understand exactly what happened then we believe the testimony of these individuals is critical.”

But Senator Cash, who called a media conference after refusing to appear at estimates yesterday, said the subpoena was issued at the request of the AWU and was a stunt designed to protect Bill Shorten, who formerly led the union.

She said she was not a party to the proceedings which were between the AWU and the commission and she would seek to have the subpoena set aside.