AWU Condemn Federal Police Raids Over GetUp and Shorten Donation
The Australian Workers Union condemned the raids conducted by the Australian Federal Police on their offices in Sydney and Melbourne on October 25 as an “extraordinary abuse of police resources.”
The Australian Federal Police said the raids were conducted on behalf of the Registered Organisations Commission and were rushed amid fears documents could be destroyed, the ABC reported. Documents believed to be within the AWU offices include evidence of decade-old donations made to activist group GetUp and to Bill Shorten when he was the union’s leader. It follows the Australian Electoral Commission asking GetUp to disclose what funding it receives and how it was spent.
The Labor Party hit out at Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who said Shorten had questions to answer over the investigation, with one senior MP referring to the raids as a “tin-pot dictatorship”, AAP reported.
The video shows AWU Secretary Sally McManus and National Secretary Daniel Walton holding a press conference outside their offices in West Melbourne, where part of the raids took place. Credit: Facebook/Sally McManus via Storyful
