Witnesses quizzed over AWU scandal
STEVE LEWIS and GEMMA JONES
Daily Telegraph
November 29, 201212:00AM
Fraud squad detectives contact at least two people
PM under more pressure
New allegations about her involvement
VICTORIAN police have begun interviewing key witnesses as part of an investigation into the Australian Workers Union scandal.
Fraud squad detectives have contacted at least two people, including retired Greek-born builder Kon Spyridis, who said he spoke with police on Monday in relation to payments he'd received from the AWU in the mid-1990s.
Police have also contacted former Slater & Gordon employee Olive Brosnahan, who in 1993 did the conveyancing on the Melbourne property at the centre of the affair.
The police move comes as new allegations emerge that Prime Minister Julia Gillard was heavily involved in the creation of a union body later used as a "slush fund".
The Australian reports today that documents, released after 17 years, show Ms Gillard argued the case for the incorporation of the Australian Workers Union Workplace Reform Association.
Ms Gillard told her employers at the law firm Slater & Gordon in 1995 that the association was a "slush fund" to be used for the re-election of union officials.
However, it eventually became the vehicle through which major union fraud was committed, with $100,000 from it being used to buy a Melbourne home which Ms Gillard's boyfriend, union official Bruce Wilson, lived in
The newly released documents, a record of interview about the association between Ms Gillard and Slater & Gordon then-senior partner Peter Gordon in September 1995, show Ms Gillard alone prepared the response when the authority suggested it was ineligible for incorporation due to its "trade union status".
Yesterday, Ms Gillard yesterday declined, amid multiple questions from the Opposition, to give a direct answer when asked if she had written to WA's Corporate Affairs Commission vouching for the bonafides of the association 20 years ago.
Ms Gillard provided legal advice for the incorporation of the AWU Workplace Reform Association, but has denied any knowledge of its operations.
She labelled Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop - who is under fire after admitting to meeting key witness Ralph Blewitt - an embarrassment before telling Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, who has remained silent on the affair in parliament this week, that she would answer if he asked the question.
"Get up and ask it yourself, then I will answer it," she thundered at her political rival.
Liberal Senator George Brandis used parliamentary privilege to call Ms Gillard's account of her actions "implausible."
A spokeswoman for Ms Gillard said Victorian police had not approached the Prime Minister.
Victorian police are investigating whether criminal action took place during 1992 to 1995 in relation to a series of unauthorised union accounts. The Kerr St Fitzroy home, which was purchased for $230,000, was partly financed with around $67,000 from the AWU Workplace Reform Association.
The Opposition has questioned the Prime Minister's involvement in helping to purchase the property, although Ms Gillard insists she has done nothing wrong and that her role was limited to witnessing a power of attorney from Mr Blewitt, a former AWU official and self-confessed "bagman".
That document gave Ms Gillard's then boyfriend, Bruce Wilson, authority to secure a loan and purchase the property, which was later sold in 1996.
Mr Spyridis told News Limited that police had quizzed him over work he had done for the AWU in the mid-1990s. In August, the retired builder broke a 17-year silence to clear Prime Minister Julia Gillard of allegations that funds from the AWU "slush" had helped to pay for renovations on her Melbourne home.
Yesterday, Mr Spyridis denied he had ever approached former AWUVictorian State Secretary Bob Smith seeking payment for unpaid work.
"I don't remember Bob Smith," he said.
Mr Smith declined to comment on whether he had been contacted by the fraud squad.
It is understood Peter Gordon who was one of two Slater and Gordon senior staff who interviewed Ms Gillard around the time she left the firm over the AWU association affair has not been contacted by police.
Victoria police said the fraud and extortion squad "is currently assessing a file which relates to the alleged misappropriation of funds from a Union. Victoria Police does not confirm who may or may not be under investigation or providing statements.
Ms Gillard has always vehemently denied any knowledge of the fraud.
She has admitted having only been involved in providing legal advice to Mr Wilson and their friend, union bagman Ralph Blewitt, as to the incorporation of the association.
