Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The Heydon royal commission revealed what many knew—that there had been a long history, over many decades, of secret payments made by employers to trade unions in order to secure benefits for those employers. Those benefits, which Justice Heydon described as corrupting benefits, were a major feature of his report, and his recommendation was that any benefit paid by an employer to a union or a union official which was not for a thoroughly legitimate purpose for services rendered should be unlawful. The law now passed by the Senate has done that. But, equally, any payments paid between an employer and a union, even if for a legitimate purpose, should be disclosed.

We have seen dozens of examples of unions, particularly the AWU, receiving payments at a time when there was an enterprise agreement being negotiated.

Mr Dreyfus interjecting—

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