Trade union inquiry comes in under budget

Dyson Heydon’s trade union royal commission has cost taxpayers $46 million after an inquiry into 75 case studies.

Dyson Heydon will deliver his final trade union commission report to the Governor-General by New Year’s Eve. Picture: Britta Campion

The trade union royal commission has cost taxpayers $46 million after an inquiry into 75 case studies, evidence from 525 witnesses and more than 2000 subpoenas for documents served on unions, officials, companies and businesspeople.

The Commission said today Dyson Heydon would deliver his final report to the Governor-General on or by New Year’s Eve, with the government to decide on the timing for its public release.

As at 30 November 2015, the inquiry had cost $45.9 million, covering fees for counsel assisting the Commission Jeremy Stoljar and Sarah McNaughton and other lawyers, and the police taskforces in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and the ACT, and spending by the Attorney General’s department on financial assistance for witnesses.

The royal commission was initially funded for nine months but was extended in October 2014 to run for a total 21 months, with no increase in its budget of approximately $57m.

The budget figures do not include spending on Australian Federal Police officers who were also in the Commission’s taskforce.

The final report, which is likely to extend over several volumes, will conclude the Commission’s national inquiry into trade union governance and corruption which began on 13 March 2014.