Former High Court judge Dyson Heydon has told the first sitting of the Coalition Government's royal commission into unions he is heading that its terms of reference are "not hostile to trade unions", while outlining the heavy criminal sanctions that apply to those who breach its rules.
The unions singled out for investigation by the Abbott Government's royal commission have started receiving "notices to produce" ahead of next week's preliminary hearing in Sydney.
Labor and Greens members that make up the majority of a Senate committee have adopted AiG's view that substantial elements of the Abbott Government's Registered Organisations Bill are too onerous and need to be relaxed.
The ACTU has fired the first shot in the royal commission into union corruption, finance and governance by telling the inquiry chief Dyson Heydon that it wants a ban on selective leaking of evidence to the media before hearings.
Former HSU national secretary Craig Thomson will be sentenced next Tuesday, after Lesley Taylor SC, for the prosecution, today told Magistrate Charlie Rozencwajg that anything less than an immediate custodial sentence would be "manifestly inadequate".
Stoljar, Elliott, Roughley the Royal Commission legal team; Senate committee to report on Fair Work Amendment Bill by early June; FWC president appoints Harcourt to super expert panel; and IR ministers unchanged after WA and Victorian reshuffles.
The Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption will hold its first hearing next month and Royal Commissioner Dyson Heydon will hand his final report to the federal government at the end of the year.
South Australian Employee Ombudsman Stephen Brennan has been charged with falsifying accounts and dishonesty when secretary of the TCFU's former SA/Tasmanian branch, while the Fair Work Commission is continuing to investigate the branch's financial affairs.
A Sydney-based silk with a strong suit in commercial law is tipped for the crucial role of counsel assisting the royal commission into the governance of unions and their financial dealings.
