"It is notorious among the legal profession that I am incapable of sending or receiving emails. The consequence is that I read emails only after they have been printed out for me."

Those are the words of trade union royal commissioner Dyson Heydon, who highlighted on Monday his unwillingness to use email when he ruled that he would continue as the head of the royal commission despite being accused of bias for agreeing to appear at a Liberal Party fund-raiser.

Declaring email "a form of communication oppressively compelling a speedy response", Heydon said he had no computer and that all email correspondence was sent and received by his personal assistant.

This swiftly prompted political activist group Electronic Frontiers Australia to issue a statement saying that all high-ranking public officials "must have at least basic computer and electronic communication skills".