Unions royal commission: Labor ire at ‘privacy invasion’

Labor has accused Malcolm Turnbull of presiding over ‘modern-day McCarthyism’.

Former High Court judge Dyson Heydon. Picture: Britta Campion

Labor has accused Malcolm Turnbull of presiding over “modern-day McCarthyism” amid a ferocious dispute over a legal move to obtain the personal details of 9000 party members.

Labor attacked the move by the royal commission into union corruption as an invasion of pers­onal privacy and a curb on the right to freedom of association, setting up a renewed call to shut down the ­investigation.

But the outrage petered out in parliament when Bill Shorten and his colleagues chose not to ask Mr Turnbull about the commission, minutes after Labor insisted the Prime Minister had questions to answer.

The dispute began yesterday when the Victorian branch of the ALP officially objected to a notice it received from the commission the previous day, asking it to produce “all membership application forms” including renewals and payment details for the year ending May 2013.

Counsel assisting the inquiry Jeremy Stoljar withdrew the not­ice to produce documents after Labor warned it was an “oppressive” request, but he said he and his colleagues would consider a “narrower form” of the request.

The background to the request includes an investigation into a fund linked to former Australian Workers Union boss Cesar Melhem, Industry 2020, and whether it paid for party memberships.

Labor legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus and employment spokesman Brendan O’Connor ­labelled the move “modern-day McCarthyism” and said it was an intrusion into the personal affairs of ordinary Australians on the basis of their political affiliation.

“It’s an attack on a fundamental right of our democratic system, which is the right to freedom of ­association,” Mr Dreyfus said.

Mr O’Connor said the request would have obtained the names, addresses, telephone numbers, email, dates of birth, union affiliation and credit card details of thousands of Australians. “Labor has said all along that this has been a tainted commission, spending $80 million of taxpayer money, a biased commission insofar as the way it’s treated the witnesses.”

He added that Commissioner Dyson Heydon had signed the ­notice: “This is no underling writing a notice to produce.”

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash yesterday said that Labor’s move was a “distraction” and an attempt to “smear” Commissioner Heydon.

“Australians will rightly take a very dim view of anyone who ­attempts to provide distractions from the mountain of evidence being tendered to the royal commission, which in recent days has developed into a tidal wave of deeply concerning allegations,” Senator Cash said.

Victorian Privacy Commissioner David Watts warned the commission should consider the broader context when requesting sensitive information. “Although the royal commission is not bound by the Privacy Act, its discretionary powers should be informed by issues of privacy and Australia’s international obligations,’’ he said.

Additional reporting: John Ferguson