On Dyson Heydon 

Paul Hodgson writes: Re. “Dyson Heydon’s bad memory and the trashing of the institutions” (yesterday). I’m beginning to wonder:  One of the Whitlam government’s proudest achievements was to provide sewerage to the outer suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne.  The Liberals have been hell-bent ever since on demolishing Whitlam’s legacy.  To this end, Howard became known as the “unflushable turd”.  Abbott and Dyson Heydon seem to be enlisted in the same endeavour.

Ken Lambert writes: The confected Heydon hysteria is subsiding, and the real business of the commission should resume.  Nailing the mafia-like extortion rackets run by the building unions. For those who can’t work out the moral difference between an extorter (the one who demands money with the threat of harm), and the extortee (the one who pays up to avoid harm),  go watch all the Godfather movies in one sitting. Those who want to protect the extortionists,  standover men and issuers of false invoices and receivers of corrupt payments stand exposed … half the parliamentary ALP.

Tony Burke, his leader Bill Shorten, and the assorted bunch of ex-union hacks who protected scumbags like Thompson and whose former leader played footsy with the boys from Fitzroy. What monumental hypocrisy for Burke (he of the $12,000 kids flights to Uluru) to lead the attack on Heydon, an ex-high court judge of high reputation, started on his elevated career by none other than Neville Wran.

John Richardson writes: While Bernard Keane might think the Royal Commission into trade union corruption maintains the coalition’s fine “circus” tradition, others would argue that Dyson Heydon’s effort has simply amplified the ugly burlesque that is the Abbott government. In news just to-hand, Royal Commissioner Heydon has dismissed allegations that he is biased, explaining that he did not realise he was presiding at a Royal Commission into Trade Union corruption when he accepted an invitation to be a guest speaker at a Liberal Party fund-raiser.

Heydon explained to himself that the confusion arose as a result of his mistaken belief that he had been appointed as Prime Hamster Phony Abbott’s chief advocate for workers’ rights & that it had always been his intention to remind attendees at the Liberal Party fundraiser of the importance of the party pursuing those rights. Large numbers of helicopters were parked nearby.

Judy Bamberger writes: It seems Labor is a little precious about Justice Heydon, seemingly trying to cook-up a three- decade-long conspiracy theory.

“I overlooked the connection between the person or persons organising the event and the Liberal Party which had been stated in the email of 10 April, 2014 [and my agreement to speak was] conditional on the work of the [Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption] being completed before that time”.  [Heydon, reported 17 August]  Heydon goofed — don’t we all?

Labor dredged up a 30-year-old connection between then-selector Heydon and now-PM Abbott (Heydon’s serving on the Rhodes Scholarship selection committee that awarded the honour to Abbott) talk about a furphy!

It’s reasonable to ask honourable and respectful questions about Heydon’s speech-making at a Liberal Party fund-raiser while still serving on a Liberal Government’s Royal Commission … *BUT* … trying to create a juicy conspiracy theory is way overboard. It’s time Labor stops living in the past, digging dirt … and starts demonstrating leadership by presenting Australians with a solid set of future-oriented policies.  Otherwise, Labor sounds just like the Coalition, losing votes to other forward-looking parties at the next election!

Glitter bomb

Jim Hanna writes: Re. “Tips and rumours” (yesterday). Six police cars, 6 fire trucks and a Hazmat unit in Sydney’s mid-western suburbs? I thought it was just Liberal MP Craig Laundy’s wedding.