Abbott government to pay Jeremy Stoljar $3.3m for a contract from 12 April last year until the end of this year, documents show

The lead lawyer for the royal commission into trade union corruption will be paid more than $3.36m for just under two years’ work at the inquiry.



The government will pay Jeremy Stoljar SC $3.3m for a contract from 12 April last year until the end of this year, according to documents posted on the Austender website.

Stoljar was paid another $54,366 for two and a half months work on the preparation and setting up of the royal commission last year, according to a separate tender document.

The government has allocated a total of $52m to the royal commission, which is investigating allegations of corruption and slush funds in the union movement and has so far held 70 hearings calling on 220 witnesses around the country. It will continue hearings this year.

The commission was set up after allegations involving the construction industry, the health services union and also the former prime minister, Julia Gillard, over legal advice she gave as a young lawyer to her then boyfriend, the Australian Workers Union official Bruce Wilson, which helped him set up what was later revealed to be a union “slush fund”.

An interim report delivered late last year recommended criminal charges be considered against scores of officials from three unions but found Gillard had committed no crime and was unaware of any crimes committed by others.

The workplace relations minister, Eric Abetz, said the interim report bolstered the government’s case to introduce the Registered Organisations Commission – an independent oversight body for unions and employers – and reintroduce the building industry watchdog, the Australian Building and Construction Commission. Neither organisation was specifically mentioned by the royal commission and the legislation to reintroduce both bodies is blocked in the Senate, with Labor, the Greens and crossbench senators saying they will not pass it.

Abetz said the report revealed a “systemic culture” of criminality within sections of the trade union movement but the president of the ACTU, Ged Kearney, said it was a waste of taxpayer money because it contained “nothing to say there’s widespread corruption” in the unions. Labor and the unions have argued police should investigate corruption allegations.

The royal commission is headed by former high court justice Dyson Heydon.

Asked whether the amount in the contract could include anything other than Stoljar’s fees, a spokeswoman for the commission said “the contract value is for services provided and likely to be provided in the future by Jeremy Stoljar”.

The spokeswoman said: “It is general practice that the terms and conditions (including daily or hourly rates) on which the Commonwealth engages individual legal counsel, including Royal Commissioners and Counsel Assisting, are not disclosed as this information is commercial-in-confidence.”