Bill Shorten to face union royal commission today

Bill Shorten said he relished the chance to appear at the trade union royal commission — declaring “bring it on”.

Bill Shorten, pictured as national secretary of the AWU.

Bill Shorten has said he relishes the chance to appear at the trade union royal commission today — saying “bring it on” — despite some evidence presented at the hearings so far contradicting the ­Opposition Leader’s previous ­testimony.

Mr Shorten has been preparing for his Sydney appearance for days and has taken part in “coaching” sessions with former union boss Bill Kelty.

The Australian understands Mr Kelty has given Mr Shorten advice about how to frame his description of his leadership of the Australian Workers Union, emphasising that Mr Shorten saved jobs and negotiated win-win outcomes for workers and employers.

Mr Shorten said last night the royal commission was an “opportunity to talk about what I believe to be every Australian’s right — a good, safe job with proper pay and conditions”. However, his previous evidence to the commission has been light on detail.

Mr Shorten’s affidavit handed to the commission in November, which is barely over two pages long, states twice that he had “no recollection”, and three times that he did “not recall”. It has also been challenged since it was filed.

Mr Shorten’s first memory lapse referred to a conversation he supposedly had with former AWU official Bob Kernohan in which he allegedly said the union was “moving on” from allegations of fraud concerning an AWU slush fund.

The affidavit states: “I have no recollection of attending a meeting or having a conversation with Mr Kernohan … about the matters to which Mr Kernohan has referred. I do not believe I made any comment of the kind attributed to me by Mr Kernohan in that paragraph.”

However, the interim report published last year by commissioner Dyson Heydon QC said: “Over the last two decades William Shorten has had many cares, borne many burdens and performed many different roles while ascending the greasy pole … on the probabilities, it is likely that the ­incident took place as Robert Kernohan narrates it.”

Mr Kernohan is travelling from Melbourne to Sydney to attend the hearing.

Mr Shorten’s evidence has also clashed with that of the former human resources manager of Chiquita Mushrooms, Joe Agostino.

Mr Shorten said in his affidavit he could not remember meeting Mr Agostino in November 2002, when the two allegedly discussed declining union membership at the company, the use of independent contractors and soaring WorkCover bills. Mr Agostino told the royal commission Mr Shorten said he would look for a solution. AWU organiser Frank Leo subsequently brokered a deal to employ 300 workers through a union-friendly labour hire firm on the site. Over the next decade the deal drove 700 members to the AWU.

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