Taxpayers foot $800k legal bill over Australian Workers Union raids

The cost of defending legal action taken by the Australian Workers’ Union over raids on its offices has come in at $830,000, the ROC reveals.

Senator Michaelia Cash appearing at senate estimates at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: News Corp

Taxpayers have been hit with a legal bill of more than $830,000 after the Registered Organisations Commission revealed it has spent $550,000 on lawyers to defend legal action taken by the Australian Workers’ Union over raids on the union offices.

The bill so far follows admissions by Small Business Minister Michaelia Cash that $288,000 in taxpayers’ money had been spent on her legal representation during the proceedings.

Commissioner Mark Bielecki confirmed the legal bill to Senate estimates tonight, saying two QCs, two solicitors and a paralegal had been engaged by the commission.

He said the action had soaked up the resources of the agency which has an annual budget of more than $7 million.

Mr Bielecki and commission executive director Chris Enright successfully claimed public interest immunity to refuse to answer questions at estimates about Mark Lee, the former commission media adviser.

Mr Lee was named in the Federal Court by Michaelia Cash’s former chief of staff Ben Davies as the source of the leak about the raids on the Australian Workers Union in 2017.

Mr Davies passed the information to Senator Cash’s then media adviser David De Garis who tipped off the media ahead of the raids.

Mr Lee is due to give evidence to the court on Monday and Mr Enright will appear in court later next week.

The estimates hearing was also told today the AWU had subpoenaed the secretary of the Department of Jobs and Small Business, Kerri Hartland, seeking documents in relation to the commission probe into donations by the AWU to GetUp and raids on the union’s offices.

Ms Hartland said she and the department had been served subpoenas by the AWU.

Ms Hartland and Senator Cash were being questioned by ALP senator Doug Cameron about letters Senator Cash wrote in 2017 referring the commission to allegations about donations made by the AWU to GetUp.

Mr Enright, who is due to give evidence in the trial next week, told estimates that he had given a witness statement to an AFP investigation into the unauthorised leaking to the media of information about the raids.

Labor grilled Senator Cash again today claiming her evidence about her statement to the AFP investigation had been contradicted by the AFP on Monday.

The AFP said Senator Cash and then justice minister Michael Keenan declined to provide witness statements to its investigation. It said on at least two occasions it sought statements from Senator Cash and Mr Keenan but they provided letters that the AFP said it did not classify as witness statements.

Senator Cash insisted the AFP did not follow up with her after she provided an initial statement. The statement appears to consist of a letter and a copy of her previous evidence to Senate estimates.

“They had every opportunity to come back to me and they didn’t,’’ she said.

Questioned about the $288,000 in taxpayer-funded legal assistance she has received so far in relation to the AWU proceedings, Senator Cash said a number of former ALP ministers had received government-funded assistance when they were subject to legal proceedings related to their ministerial duties.

Senator Cameron said Senator Cash was a demoted Minister who should resign but she responded that Senator Cameron, unlike her, had never had the privilege of being a cabinet minister and “never will”.

Opposition workplace relations spokesman Brendan O’Connor said Scott Morrison should sack Senator Cash from Cabinet.

He said more than $800,000 of taxpayers money had been spent on legal fees to ‘defend the scandal involving Senator Cash, her office and the politicised agency this government established to attack its perceived political enemies’.