Dyson Heydon is in the news again.
Several weeks ago he appeared to question the credibility of Bill Shorten as a witness before the Trade Union Royal Commission. He also had unusual things to say about the credibility of Julia Gillard when she appeared before the Commission.
See below a repost of an article on the Liberal Party and royal commissions.
John Menadue
REPOST
With the Abbott Government there is a pattern of using Royal Commissions to attack former and current ALP leaders. See the links below to two earlier posts on the subject.
What we really need is a Royal Commission into billions of dollars of tax avoidance by major companies operating in Australia. They are avoiding proper scrutiny.
John Menadue.
The Royal Commission into the Home Insulation Program – a ‘dog’s breakfast’.
What a remarkable thing to say!
John Menadue is the Founder and Editor in Chief of Pearls and Irritations. He was formerly Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet under Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser, Ambassador to Japan, Secretary of the Department of Immigration and CEO of Qantas.
Comments
One response to “John Menadue. Liberal Party misuse of Royal Commissions.”
Hmm, you missed the 1954 Petrov Royal Commission which resulted in Labor out of power for 18 years!
Howard on Petrov RC in THe Menzies Era:
“Menzies had been first told of the possibility of a Russian
defection on 10 February by Colonel Charles Spry, then Director
General of ASIO, who recalled having mentioned Petrov’s name
to the PM, although Menzies did not later remember this. ‘l he
idea of holding a Royal Commission into Soviet espionage had
been canvassed at this meeting; it seems that Spry was the prime
advocate for it – based on a highly successful Canadian precedent
some years earlier – and that Menzies was receptive”.
Unlike the Canadian Royal Commission, which was held in private and uncovered real spies eg the atomic spies, the Petrov RC was held in the full glare of the media.
The Leader of the Opposition, Dr Evatt was not called members of his staff were named and Evatt was forced to enter the Commission to defend them.
The rest is history.