Michaelia Cash integrity on trial over union raids, AWU claims

The integrity of Michaelia Cash’s office is under scrutiny in the Federal Court over controversial police raids, the AWU claims.

Former Workplace Relations Minister Michaelia Cash. Picture: AAP

The integrity of Michaelia Cash’s office is on trial in the Federal Court today, the Australian Workers Union claims.

The AWU has taken legal action over a police raid in October 2017 that union national secretary Daniel Walton claims was a political overreach.

The AFP raided the AWU offices in Sydney and Melbourne as part of an investigation into donations by left-leaning activist group GetUp a decade earlier.

The investigation was launched by the Registered Organisations Commission, which was tasked with regulating union and employee associations.

Press were tipped off about the raids and filmed the AFP officers.

Mr Walton spoke this morning outside court and said he believed the former Workplace Relations minister Michaelia Cash misused her position by instigating the investigation into the AWU.

He said the trial was an opportunity to get Ms Cash and her former staff members into the witness box “to ask what did they know, when did they know it and who they spoke to”.

“We think when the full case is run, documents presented in front of court, we’re hopeful the judge will see this has been a massive overstep and misuse of political resources,” he said.

Mr Walton said the raid and investigation occurred when AFP said they lacked resources to for terrorism and drug ring investigations.

“Instead they were sent to our offices in large numbers to find a couple of pieces of paper relating to donations made over a decade ago,” he said.

“Donations that we’re declared and made publicly available.”

Maurice Blackburn’s Josh Bornstein said a key issue for the court was deciding if the raid was part of a legitimate regulatory investigation or if it was a “political witch-hunt”.

He said the union was seeking orders the investigation, including the raid, was unlawful, motivated for improper political purposes and “part of Michaelia Cash’s obsession with causing political harm to the AWU and to the opposition leader”.

The hearing before Justice Mordecai Bromberg will last all week and Ms Cash is expected to give evidence on Friday.