Dyson Heydon. Credit:Anna Kucera ACTU national secretary Dave Oliver wrote to the commission on Thursday, asking it to urgently disclose further emails about what prompted Mr Heydon to withdraw from the event on the day Fairfax Media reported his involvement. The call from the ACTU chief follows a report in The Australian on Thursday that Mr Stoljar may have alerted Mr Heydon to Liberal Party links to the event, named after former High Court chief justice and Liberal MP Sir Garfield Barwick. The report said that Chris Winslow, the publications manager from the NSW Bar Association, had called Mr Stoljar because he became concerned Mr Heydon's involvement in the event might soon appear in the media. Mr Winslow reportedly asked Mr Stoljar whether Mr Heydon knew the event was connected to the Liberal Party. Mr Stoljar is said to have replied: "I'll raise that with him." The royal commission denied this, saying on Thursday that Mr Stoljar had only received an email from Mr Winslow asking him whether Mr Heydon knew about the Liberal Party connection.

Jeremy Stoljar. Credit:David Geraghty "Mr Winslow did not communicate to Mr Stoljar that he had been contacted by a journalist or that he had a fear that a story about the matter might appear in the media." In response to Thursday's ACTU application, the royal commission immediately released the documentation, and has given union lawyers until 5pm on Friday to consider whether a further application regarding apprehended bias will be made. Illustration: Cathy Wilcox The delayed ruling until Monday at the earliest is the second time the decision had been delayed this week.

The commission also released a note from Mr Stoljar's diary which showed that he had raised this with Mr Heydon. "However [Heydon] showed me an email from Greg Burton to him, also yesterday 12/8, saying it is not a fundraiser. "[Heydon]: Burton is closer to the action than Winslow - he ought to know. So OK to go ahead of [Heydon] writes clarifying + response OK." Shortly after Fairfax Media first reported that Mr Heydon was billed as the keynote speaker of the event, the royal commission released a statement saying that "prior to any media enquiry being received" Mr Heydon had "advised the organisers that 'If there was 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'." The commission also released an email from Mr Heydon's office to Sydney barrister Gregory Burton, who had helped organise the event, in which he makes this remark. Mr Heydon has maintained he had been invited to attend the event before the royal commission's hearings were extended, and overlooked the fact it was a Liberal Party event in later emails as he was busy with commission hearings.

On Friday, instead of Mr Heydon's decision on his recusal, the unions will be able to make "any further submissions" on the latest evidence at the commission. While Mr Heydon's intended ruling has been the subject of intense speculation, the fact he has shifted the decision to next week suggests he may be intending to stay on as commissioner. Were he to recuse himself, the cabinet would need to discuss and then sign off on a replacement appointment with the royal commission set to continue regardless. On Thursday, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said that if Mr Heydon took the decision to recuse himself, "the important thing is that the royal commission will continue". "We have seen an abundance of evidence of rorts, rackets and rip-offs inside the union movement.

"This is an absolutely vital royal commission, even someone of the stature of Martin Ferguson says this is an important part of cleaning up the union movement, cleaning up the Labor Party, so it must and will go on regardless of any decision Dyson Heydon, QC, makes." Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said the royal commission was "now in a shambolic and politicised state". "Mr Abbott has put Mr Heydon in a very, very unenviable position," he said. "Mr Abbott should have acted to resolved this matter before now." Mr Shorten also suggested that Mr Stoljar and Mr Heydon "had further serious questions to answer about whether evidence which has now been revealed in The Australian should have been disclosed earlier". On the ACTU's application, late on Thursday, a spokesman for Attorney-General George Brandis said: "It's a matter for the royal commission."

Fairfax Media has contacted a spokesman for the royal commission for comment. Follow us on Twitter