Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Women) Share this | Hansard source

The key concern about these payments is that they benefit union officials—for example, like Mr Bill Shorten—but do nothing to benefit the membership of the union who are paying their hard-earned membership fees. In the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption, this comment was made:

A cause for increasing concern over the last two decades is the growth of other forms of more sophisticated, and less transparent, fund raising activities by some trade union officials … The moneys may be raised for the personal advancement of the officials, and not for the union.

In relation to personal advancement, as we know, Mr Bill Shorten traded away penalty rates, negotiated deals for his workers that paid below awards and, at the same time, saw a complex web of moneys donated to his union—hardly a proper use of members' funds.