Shorten told it looks bad

Commissioner concerned at credibility

LABOR leader Bill Shorten’s credibility has come under attack during his second day on the stand at the royal commission into union corruption.

Commissioner Dyson Heydon delivered an extraordinary lecture to Mr Shorten as the politician repeatedly gave long answers to questions.

Mr Heydon said the former Australian Workers Union secretary was making himself look bad.

“What I am concerned about more is your credibility as a witness,” he said.

“A witness who answers each question ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘I don’t remember’ or clarifies the question, and so on, gives the cross-examiner very little to work with. It is in your interest to curb these, to some extent, extraneous answers.”

In another forensic day of cross examination, Mr Shorten was accused of having a conflict of interest when negotiating pay deals with three companies who had made more than $800,000 in payments to the union.

Mr Shorten was grilled on $300,000 in “bogus” payments to the union from EastLink builder Thiess John Holland between 2005 and 2008.

The spending was invoiced as advertising in the union magazine, tables at dinner dances and training.

One invoice was for $30,000 for research on “Back Strain in Civil Construction” but no research work was provided.

Jeremy Stoljar, counsel assisting the commission, asked: “Is this a bogus invoice that’s claiming payment for work that was never done?”

Mr Shorten replied: “I would never be party to issuing any bogus invoices, full stop.”

He was also probed about a pay deal he struck with Spotswood glass manufacturer ACI Glass in which the union was paid $500,000 for a “paid education levy”.

Mr Shorten denied he had a “serious conflict of interest” despite negotiating a pay deal with the company while the union was receiving the payment.

Cesar Melhem, who took over from Mr Shorten as head of the Victorian AWU, resigned as Government Whip in the Victorian Upper House after he was accused of similar conduct during a royal commission hearing this year.

Mr Shorten was also asked about a deal with mushroom grower Chiquita Mushrooms.

The company was paying the union $4000 a month for “training” when it signed a deal with the AWU that saved $3 million a year, cost 157 jobs and left remaining workers worse off.

The $80 million royal commission has become a political football, with Labor accusing the Abbott Government of setting up a witch hunt.