Labor is rejecting the trade union royal commission report as a political witch hunt, despite damning findings against the union movement and a Victorian Labor MP.
Opposition workplace spokesman Brendan O'Connor has continued Labor's attack on Commissioner Dyson Heydon - who earlier this year came under fire after agreeing to address a Liberal fundraiser - and slammed the government for releasing the report during the quiet holiday period.
He told reporters in Adelaide on Wednesday Labor does not condone misconduct and has announced reforms to tackle union governance.
Mr O'Connor says criminal activity should be met with the full force of the law but insists instances of misconduct are "isolated".
The government should have the Australian Securities and Investments Commission investigate union misconduct rather than establish a "new bureaucracy with no history and no expertise".
Mr Heydon's report says union misbehaviour is "deep-seated" and widespread.
He's recommended that all regulatory functions of the Fair Work Commission related to registered organisations be transferred to a new independent regulator called the Registered Organisations Commission.
Mr O'Connor says the misconduct would have been uncovered sooner if the $80 million spent on the royal commission had been handed to police to investigate, but that was "never the motive of the government".
"The motive of the government was political, not dealing with criminal matters," he said.
"This is not a court of law. The commission is an executive inquiry established by the government to act on behalf of the government."
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