Julia Gillard called to appear before royal commission into trade unions

By Anna Patty
Updated August 28 2014 - 2:13pm, first published 1:47pm
Julia Gillard will be called to answer questions about payments for renovations to her house.
Julia Gillard will be called to answer questions about payments for renovations to her house.

Former prime minister Julia Gillard has been summonsed to appear before the royal commission into trade union corruption, which has heard allegations she was given money from a union slush fund to pay for repairs to her house.

The Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption released a statement on Thursday morning saying it had advised Ms Gillard's legal representatives of a hearing date in early September.

"The Commission will issue further details of its hearings in due course," it said. "No further comment will be made."

Ms Gillard is the fourth Australian prime minister to be called before a special commission of inquiry in recent history. John Howard appeared before the Cole inquiry into kickbacks involving the Australian Wheat Board in 2006, while Bob Hawke appeared before the Hope royal commission into the Combe-Ivanov intelligence scandal in 1983. And Kevin Rudd recently answered questions before the Abbott government's royal commission into the former Labor government's home insulation scheme.

Neil Clelland, QC, who has been acting on Ms Gillard's behalf in the royal commission, declined to comment on the call for Ms Gillard to appear as a witness.

The commission has raised questions about whether money from a secret slush fund linked to the Australian Workers Union was used to pay for renovations to her house in the Melbourne suburb of Abbotsford in the early 1990s.

Subscribe now for unlimited access.

$0/

(min cost $0)

or signup to continue reading

See subscription options

Get the latest Nelson Bay news in your inbox

Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date.

We care about the protection of your data. Read our Privacy Policy.