From Union Secretary to Strategy Chief:
Daniel Walton, EML, and the Cost of Protection
When a woman delegate was allegedly called a “cunt” by a senior union official, the response was swift - on paper. But the real story was buried. What happens next exposes how silence is rewarded, whistleblowers are punished, and the pipeline from union halls to corporate boardrooms stays greased.
🧱 The Foundation of a Power Structure
In December 2019, a formal complaint was raised against a Queensland-based District Secretary of the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU). The allegation? That he referred to a woman delegate, herself a representative of the union and the wife of another delegate, as a “cunt.”
The complainant was her husband, also a respected delegate. Both worked at the same government employer. The complaint escalated up the chain, eventually reaching then-National Secretary Daniel Walton.
At first glance, Walton’s response looked appropriate: a written acknowledgment, instructions to gather evidence, and assurance that the matter would be handled fairly.
But that’s where the transparency ended.
🎙️ The Tape They Don’t Want Heard
Though neither Walton nor I were in the room when the alleged slur occurred, the meeting was recorded. The audio exists. I have it.
It documents a conversation where the woman was named. The insult was spoken. Multiple people were present.
Despite the gravity of the allegation, and its confirmation by a second witness who raised additional concerns, the matter was quietly absorbed into the machinery of internal union processes. No public outcome. No known consequence. No transparency.
And when the second witness expressed fears of retaliation and shared his own formal complaint about the same union official, he was brushed aside. His statement, taken in person during an official meeting with the union’s legal officer, never made its way back to him. Neither did an outcome.
He asked. He followed up. Nothing.
🚪 From Union Boss to Corporate Boardroom
Daniel Walton quietly resigned from the Australian Workers’ Union in 2023, after seven years as National Secretary. He left amid growing pressure from whistleblowers who were beginning to link systemic failures to leadership-level decision-making.
Then, in August 2023, Walton made his next move.
“Some exciting personal news to announce… I am looking forward to starting a new role as Group Executive, Strategy and Growth, with the great team at EML.”
Daniel Walton, LinkedIn, August 2023
EML Group, one of Australia’s largest workers’ compensation insurers, welcomed him with open arms. He joined as Group Executive, Strategy and Growth, just as public scrutiny over WorkCover, iCare, and insurer-driven return-to-work failures began intensifying.
From one ecosystem of power and silence into another.
Since then, Walton has also taken up roles as:
Chairman of the McKell Institute - a Labor-aligned think tank;
Board Member of the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation - a federal economic initiative directing billions.
The trajectory speaks volumes. From union leadership to strategic influence over national recovery, he now operates across labour, insurance, and federal economic policy.
🤐 What Protection Looks Like
Let’s be clear: this is not just about one insult. Or one cover-up. Or one resignation. It’s about a pattern of institutional loyalty, of protecting insiders at the cost of those harmed, and of weaponising silence to ascend.
The cost of protection isn’t just paid by whistleblowers. It’s paid by every injured worker who gets stonewalled. By every delegate hung out to dry. By every policy designed without accountability baked in.
💥 The Reckoning Is Here
There are those of us who’ve been unraveling this story for years - one post at a time.
What started as a single complaint about a single word has become a window into how systems guard their own. And how, sometimes, those who cover things up go on to design the very policies that determine how justice is delivered.
You want to understand what’s wrong with workers’ compensation in this country?
Start here. Start with the cover-ups. Start with the careers that were built on silence.
We are The Reckoning Room.
And this story isn’t over.
🔜 Part Two: Coming Soon
What happened after the complaint was buried?
Who else knew? And said nothing?
What role did internal legal officers and union leadership play in protecting one of their own?
In Part Two, we follow the trail of silence all the way to the gates of government and the insurance sector, and reveal what’s still being concealed.
Stay tuned.
The reckoning has just begun.