Heydon admits he ‘overlooked’ Liberal link to speech

“The email stated that it was organised by a body which I was told was one of the lawyer branches of the Liberal Party NSW division which had a focus on professional engagement”, Justice Heydon said.

When, for instance, Robert Newlinds, SC, for the ACTU, disagreed emphatically with a proposition from the commissioner, Mr Heydon challenged: “You put that, of course, respectfully?”

“I also overlooked the fact that my agreement to speak at that time had been conditional on the work of the commission being completed before that time”.

“The genuine inquiry here is the validity of the Commissioner, managing a matter that was situated up for political purposes and now we find that he has an immediate relationship with the Liberal Party, tolerating a welcome”, Mr O’Connor told the ABC.

ACTU secretary Dave Oliver said there was at least an appearance of bias because Mr Heydon knew the speech was a Liberal event, and he had overlooked the fact it was a fundraiser.

Justice Heydon said he could only deliver the address if the royal commission had finished, which at that stage was due to be December, 2014, but was extended by one year. Email was printed out for him by his associate but he says he only noted the “date, time and place” of the dinner and not any other details.

The ACTU will make a decision by Wednesday about whether to pursue the application.

Dyson Heydon’s tone was soft and measured, as it always is, but beneath the calm exterior, one suspects, an anger raged – at the situation he found himself in, at the fierce attacks on his integrity from the Labor Party and the unions and, perhaps most of all, at his own naivety. Mr Abbott will have a lot longer to reflect on how a couple of oversights compromised what was always primarily a political exercise.

He referenced a note prepared by his assistant that said “if there is any possibility that the event could be described as a Liberal Party event, he will be unable to give the address, at least whilst he is in the position of Royal Commissioner”.

He accused Labor of trying to smear Justice Heydon to distract from the findings of the commission.

The ACTU has written to the Prime Minister calling for Heydon to be sacked.

Justice Heydon was part of the seven-member Rhodes Trust selection committee in NSW that in 1980 handed the prestigious Rhodes scholarship to Mr Abbott, then a 23-year-old student politician at Sydney University.

During a press conference on Monday morning, Mr Abbott was questioned about the Rhodes link, but said he could not recall whether Justice Heydon was on the committee.

Opposition manager of business Tony Burke suggested that whether it was a fundraiser or not, what mattered was that Justice Heydon agreed knowingly to speak at a Liberal Party event at the same time he was running the royal commission.

But emails released by Mr Heydon reveal he was sent the flyer promoting his speech, which features the Liberal Party logo and a donation form, as well as information about declaring electoral donations, as early as June 12.

“Doesn’t this make it clear that the royal commissioner has been politicised from the start and the PM should withdraw Mr Heydon’s commission?” The event will be held in August, and he wanted to give the address around the topics of “the judicial stature of Chief Justice Barwick viewed in the modern perspective”.