DYSON Heydon has ruled he will continue as the head of the royal commission into trade unions despite being accused of bias for agreeing to appear at a Liberal Party fundraiser.
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Mr Heydon was forced to consider his position after Fairfax Media revealed he was listed as a guest speaker at the Sir Garfield Barwick Address, a Liberal Party fundraiser.
The commissioner withdrew from the event but unions said his acceptance of the invitation gave the appearance of a political allegiance – with the commissioner himself left to make the ruling on whether it was a case of apprehended bias.
Dyson Heydon arrives at the royal commission on Monday morning ahead of delivering his decision. Photo: Ben Rushton
He had first been due to make a ruling last Tuesday, which he delayed until last Friday.
That date was again pushed back to Monday after fresh claims emerged Mr Heydon only withdrew from the event after he was alerted to possible media interest by counsel assisting the royal commission, Jeremy Stoljar SC.
New documents were released on Thursday after a fresh request by unions, with an email showing Mr Stoljar was asked on August 12 by Chris Winslow, the publications manager for the NSW Bar Association, if Mr Heydon was aware the Sir Garfield Barwick Address was a Liberal Party fundraiser.
The commission also released a note from Mr Stoljar's diary which showed that he had raised this with Mr Heydon on August 13 and Mr Heydon had shown him an email from the event organiser Greg Burton in which he said the lecture was not a fundraiser.
