Labor accuses commission of 'McCarthyism'

Labor is furious about an aborted attempt by the unions royal commission to obtain membership records of about 9000 supporters of its Victorian branch, accusing it of "modern day McCarthyism"

"It's hard to imagine a more inappropriate use of state power than sending an arm of the executive a notice to produce that can be enforced, failure to comply with it, a criminal offence, to the political opponents of the government of the day," shadow attorney general Mark Dreyfus told ABC Lateline.

While Mr Dreyfus refused to speculate on why the commission requested the documents, media reports suggest it is part of an investigation to determine if funds from an entity called Industry 2020 were used to secure more memberships.