Unions royal commission head Dyson Heydon was told a Liberal Party function he was due to speak at was not a fundraiser, an email released on Thursday shows.
But the email, sent on Wednesday, August 12, also mentions that people paying the $80 a head charge would disclose the cost if it put them above disclosure limits for political donations.
The email from one of the organisers of the Sir Garfield Barwick Address of the NSW Bar Association to Mr Heydon said the dinner scheduled for August 26 charged a fee only to cover expenses.
"As you know, although nominally under the auspices of the Liberal Party lawyers' professional branches this is not a fundraiser," the email said.
"The cost charged is purely to cover dinner including our guests and a small contingency for fixed costs in case of a numbers collapse (which doesn't look like happening at present!) although of course people will disclose it if they go over the State donation limit."
The email, sent by a Gregory Burton, also said the speech was closed to the media, and questions about the unions royal commission - which is still in progress - would not be allowed.
A response from Mr Heydon's associate on Thursday morning said he would not give the address if it could be described as a Liberal Party fundraiser.
"If there is 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 response said.
Mr Dyson's speech was advertised on an NSW Bar Association online newsletter in April and made no mention of the event being a Liberal Party fundraiser.
However, Bar Association deputy executive director Alastair McConnachie said the event was advertised only as a matter of interest to barristers.
"The Garfield Barwick Address is nothing to do with the NSW Bar Association," Mr McConnachie told AAP on Thursday.
"My understanding is that the Garfield Barwick lecture has been going for five or six years and it is an event put out by the Liberal Party of NSW."
Mr McConnachie said the Bar Association took the advertisement down from its website on Thursday after learning Mr Heydon would not be speaking.
Mr Heydon announced his withdrawal from the event on Thursday morning.
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