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Showing posts with label Craig Thomson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Craig Thomson. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Sunday, December 08, 2013
THEIR ABC Won't tell full story on Labor Union Slush funds
ABC won't tell the full story of slush funds
Piers Akerman
The Sunday Telegraph
December 7,2013
EXPECT astonishment from the ABC's vast national audience when the federal government places trade-union slush funds front-and-centre of a major inquiry in the New Year.
The rusted-on viewers and listeners will be bewildered because the taxpayer-funded state-owned broadcaster has imposed a regimen of strict censorship on the key element in the inquiry - the misuse of money from the AWU association which was established with the assistance of legal advice from former Prime Minister Julia Gillard when she was a partner in the Victorian Labor law firm Slater & Gordon.
Those who don't take their news solely from the ABC would be well aware that the Victorian police are conducting a major inquiry into Ms Gillard's role in the establishment of the Australian Workers' Union Workplace Reform Association by her then boyfriend, Bruce Wilson and his AWU mate Ralph Blewitt in 1992.
Early last week, The Australian newspaper revealed that Fair Work Commissioner and former AWU boss Ian Cambridge has given sworn evidence of "gross irregularities" in the union slush fund that Ms Gillard advised on.
Wilson, who was in a long-term relationship with Ms Gillard in the 1990s is the target of a police investigation and Victorian fraud squad detectives have already seized files from Slater & Gordon, files which Wilson claims should be subject to client-lawyer privilege.
The detectives are seeking to establish whether the documents were created in furtherance of a fraud, which would render void the privilege claim and make them available as evidence.
The court heard Mr Cambridge had provided "substantial evidence" in his affidavit about misappropriation of union funds by Ms Gillard.
Lawyer Ron Gipp, representing lead fraud squad detective Ross Mitchell, said Mr Cambridge's evidence "puts it beyond any doubt" that there were "gross irregularities" in the funding of the association, which Ms Gillard referred to as a "slush fund" in an exit interview before she left Slater & Gordon.
He said statements from Mr Blewitt - "essentially a full confession by a co-accused" - describe the slush fund as a "scam".
Ms Gillard has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and said she had no knowledge of the fund's operations other than it was a "slush fund" for the re-election of union officials.
Money from the fund was used to purchase the Fitzroy house in Mr Blewitt's name at a 1993 auction, which Ms Gillard attended with Mr Wilson, who subsequently lived in the property.
Slater & Gordon handled the conveyancing and helped provide finance.
That's the background for ABC fans who have been kept in the dark and goes someway to explaining why many other Australians not affected by the ABC's news blackout are watching every legal move in this case.
In her exit interview with Slater & Gordon on September 1, 1995, Ms Gillard said: "It's common practice, indeed every union has what it refers to as a re-election fund, slush fund".
Whether every union does indeed have a slush fund is something the federal government should be looking into, and probably will, informed as it is by the material being developed by the ongoing AWU investigation.
Even without an official inquiry, it has emerged that money was used from a union slush fund known as the McLean Forum to finance campaigns in internal elections in the TWU's Queensland branch and to bankroll candidates in the Flight Attendants Association of Australia and the Health Services Union's NSW Branch.
Sums of at least $500,000 were reportedly spent in the TWU's Queensland campaign.
It was reported in March that a fund known as Industry 2020 donated funds for HSU elections and a 2008 article in The Sydney Morning Herald noted that former Prime Minister Julia Gillard "was a guest speaker at the inaugural fundraising lunch for the Industry 2020 fund at Flemington racecourse, which generated about $250,000 with nearly half that profit".
In that article it was also suggested that "two other fundraisers have been held for Industry 2020, including a small event at Melbourne's Greek Museum in Melbourne last year attended by (current Opposition leader) Mr (Bill) Shorten".
The Age reported in May that ASIC records in May showed that Industry 2020 was a registered company under Mr Cesar Melhem's sole directorship. Mr Melhem was formerly the AWU Victorian Secretary but is now a Victorian Labor MP, a more recent search however indicated that two companies, Industry 2020 Pty Ltd and Industry 2020 Ltd are both under voluntary external administration.
Two weeks ago, The Age reported that the nation's largest construction union, the CFMEU, had used a drug and alcohol charity to raise up to $1 million for union activities.
It has also been revealed that the Queensland branch of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Union has for a decade had an undisclosed internal slush fund - wrongly promoted to contributors as being tax deductible - to support union boss, Mr Chris Ketter's, re-election as State Secretary of the union. Mr Ketter was the ALP's lead Senate candidate in Queensland at the 2013 election.
The ongoing court case against former Labor MP and former HSU boss Craig Thomson over his alleged misuse of trade union funds has given added impetus to the need for a wider investigation into trade unions and their handling of members' funds.
The establishment of slush funds, the practice Ms Gillard regards as "common place" and carried out by "every union" must be examined to ensure that such operations are held to the same exacting standards of governance as organisations which hold investors' money.
Trade union members deserve to know who is responsible for holding their compulsory contributions and how their cash is being spent.
For too long, the union bosses have insisted that the Labor Party turn a blind eye to union activities.
Next year, the ALP must be given the opportunity to demonstrate it truly has the workers' interests at heart.
It will send a disgraceful message if it doesn't champion the broadest inquiry into the operation of slush funds and the union movement's handling of members' money more generally.
Surely it has nothing to hide?
Piers Akerman
The Sunday Telegraph
December 7,2013
EXPECT astonishment from the ABC's vast national audience when the federal government places trade-union slush funds front-and-centre of a major inquiry in the New Year.
The rusted-on viewers and listeners will be bewildered because the taxpayer-funded state-owned broadcaster has imposed a regimen of strict censorship on the key element in the inquiry - the misuse of money from the AWU association which was established with the assistance of legal advice from former Prime Minister Julia Gillard when she was a partner in the Victorian Labor law firm Slater & Gordon.
Those who don't take their news solely from the ABC would be well aware that the Victorian police are conducting a major inquiry into Ms Gillard's role in the establishment of the Australian Workers' Union Workplace Reform Association by her then boyfriend, Bruce Wilson and his AWU mate Ralph Blewitt in 1992.
Early last week, The Australian newspaper revealed that Fair Work Commissioner and former AWU boss Ian Cambridge has given sworn evidence of "gross irregularities" in the union slush fund that Ms Gillard advised on.
Wilson, who was in a long-term relationship with Ms Gillard in the 1990s is the target of a police investigation and Victorian fraud squad detectives have already seized files from Slater & Gordon, files which Wilson claims should be subject to client-lawyer privilege.
The detectives are seeking to establish whether the documents were created in furtherance of a fraud, which would render void the privilege claim and make them available as evidence.
The court heard Mr Cambridge had provided "substantial evidence" in his affidavit about misappropriation of union funds by Ms Gillard.
Lawyer Ron Gipp, representing lead fraud squad detective Ross Mitchell, said Mr Cambridge's evidence "puts it beyond any doubt" that there were "gross irregularities" in the funding of the association, which Ms Gillard referred to as a "slush fund" in an exit interview before she left Slater & Gordon.
He said statements from Mr Blewitt - "essentially a full confession by a co-accused" - describe the slush fund as a "scam".
Ms Gillard has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and said she had no knowledge of the fund's operations other than it was a "slush fund" for the re-election of union officials.
Money from the fund was used to purchase the Fitzroy house in Mr Blewitt's name at a 1993 auction, which Ms Gillard attended with Mr Wilson, who subsequently lived in the property.
Slater & Gordon handled the conveyancing and helped provide finance.
That's the background for ABC fans who have been kept in the dark and goes someway to explaining why many other Australians not affected by the ABC's news blackout are watching every legal move in this case.
In her exit interview with Slater & Gordon on September 1, 1995, Ms Gillard said: "It's common practice, indeed every union has what it refers to as a re-election fund, slush fund".
Whether every union does indeed have a slush fund is something the federal government should be looking into, and probably will, informed as it is by the material being developed by the ongoing AWU investigation.
Even without an official inquiry, it has emerged that money was used from a union slush fund known as the McLean Forum to finance campaigns in internal elections in the TWU's Queensland branch and to bankroll candidates in the Flight Attendants Association of Australia and the Health Services Union's NSW Branch.
Sums of at least $500,000 were reportedly spent in the TWU's Queensland campaign.
It was reported in March that a fund known as Industry 2020 donated funds for HSU elections and a 2008 article in The Sydney Morning Herald noted that former Prime Minister Julia Gillard "was a guest speaker at the inaugural fundraising lunch for the Industry 2020 fund at Flemington racecourse, which generated about $250,000 with nearly half that profit".
In that article it was also suggested that "two other fundraisers have been held for Industry 2020, including a small event at Melbourne's Greek Museum in Melbourne last year attended by (current Opposition leader) Mr (Bill) Shorten".
The Age reported in May that ASIC records in May showed that Industry 2020 was a registered company under Mr Cesar Melhem's sole directorship. Mr Melhem was formerly the AWU Victorian Secretary but is now a Victorian Labor MP, a more recent search however indicated that two companies, Industry 2020 Pty Ltd and Industry 2020 Ltd are both under voluntary external administration.
Two weeks ago, The Age reported that the nation's largest construction union, the CFMEU, had used a drug and alcohol charity to raise up to $1 million for union activities.
It has also been revealed that the Queensland branch of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Union has for a decade had an undisclosed internal slush fund - wrongly promoted to contributors as being tax deductible - to support union boss, Mr Chris Ketter's, re-election as State Secretary of the union. Mr Ketter was the ALP's lead Senate candidate in Queensland at the 2013 election.
The ongoing court case against former Labor MP and former HSU boss Craig Thomson over his alleged misuse of trade union funds has given added impetus to the need for a wider investigation into trade unions and their handling of members' funds.
The establishment of slush funds, the practice Ms Gillard regards as "common place" and carried out by "every union" must be examined to ensure that such operations are held to the same exacting standards of governance as organisations which hold investors' money.
Trade union members deserve to know who is responsible for holding their compulsory contributions and how their cash is being spent.
For too long, the union bosses have insisted that the Labor Party turn a blind eye to union activities.
Next year, the ALP must be given the opportunity to demonstrate it truly has the workers' interests at heart.
It will send a disgraceful message if it doesn't champion the broadest inquiry into the operation of slush funds and the union movement's handling of members' money more generally.
Surely it has nothing to hide?
Friday, February 01, 2013
Australia:Labor Steve Price, Andrew Bolt, Ben Fordham,Michael Smith, Craig Thomson, Chris Mcardle, HSU
Thomson's bail ban from ex-sex partners
EMBATTLED Craig Thomson has been bailed on condition he doesn't contact anyone he allegedly sought sexual services from.
Timeline of events involving Craig Thomson and the Health Services Union
Daily Telegraph
January 31, 2013 4:52PM
FROM political victory to arrest: a timeline of events involving the Health Services Union and suspended Labor backbencher Craig Thomson.
- November 2007 - Craig Thomson, national secretary of the Health Services Union since 2002, wins the seat of Dobell in Labor's federal election victory.
- January 2008 - Kathy Jackson takes over from Mr Thomson as general secretary of the HSU and finds accounts in the Melbourne office in disarray.
- May 2008 - An audit sent to Ms Jackson raises "concerns about possible misuse of union funds by Mr Thomson".
- July 2008 - Fair Work Australia asks the HSU what is happening with its 2007 financial return.
- December 2008 - Ms Jackson writes to lawyers Slater and Gordon instructing them to engage tax specialists BDO Kendall to "conduct an investigation".
- April 2009 - FWA commences an inquiry into the union.
- April 6 - Industrial registrar Doug Williams writes to Ms Jackson asking for the 2007 and 2008 accounts audited and signed.
- April 7 - Ms Jackson tells Mr Williams of "possible financial irregularities revealed by the exit audit and ongoing BDO Kendall investigation".
- April 8 - Fairfax Media alleges Mr Thomson used his union credit cards to help fund his election campaign and pay for a number of personal expenses, including escort services.
- April 9 - HSU Victorian secretary Jeff Jackson is accused by HSU state president Pauline Fegan of using his union credit card to pay more than $1400 over four months for escort services.
- September 2009 - FWA interviews Ms Jackson.
- March 2010 - FWA notifies the union's national office that the inquiry has become an investigation.
- August 20 - Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and NSW premier Barry O'Farrell call on Prime Minister Julia Gillard to explain the Thomson saga.
- August 24 - The HSU says it will fully cooperate with a NSW police investigation into Mr Thomson and calls on the Labor MP to publicly explain "financial irregularities" it has found.
- August 25 - Federal Labor denies claims the government interfered in FWA's ongoing investigation into the finances of the HSU.
- August 26 - Ms Jackson says she won't be intimidated after a shovel is placed on the doorstep of her Melbourne home. Ms Gillard denies she knew about allegations surrounding Mr Thomson and his former union before the public did.
- September 8, 2011 - NSW police drop their investigation into allegations Mr Thomson misused a union credit card, saying they had no evidence.
- September 22 - Mr Williamson is suspended on full pay as HSU national president following allegations he embezzled union funds. Chris Brown is appointed acting national president a few days later.
- November, 2011 - A motion of no confidence against Ms Jackson as HSU executive president is passed at the union's annual conference. Ms Jackson vows to stay as head of the union until end of 2014.
- March 14, 2012 - FWA's investigation into HSU Victoria No 1 branch is completed. Three former officials are said to face Federal Court action.
- April 3, 2012 - FWA says its investigations are complete.
- April 5 - The ACTU suspends the HSU until the union can resolve its governance and financial management issues.
- April 8 - Pressure mounts for Mr Williamson to be sacked from Unions NSW.
- April 9 - Ms Jackson calls for the union's national executive to resign and let members elect a new leadership.
- April 10 - Divisions within the embattled HSU's top brass deepen, with branches of the union threatening to break away unless the leadership dispute is resolved.
- April 12 - Unions NSW votes to dump Mr Williamson as its vice-president and also moves to suspend the troubled union from its organisation.
- April 13 - Infighting within the HSU intensifies, with Ms Jackson charging Mr Williamson under the HSU's rules in a bid to have him removed.
- April 15 - The federal opposition calls on Ms Gillard to demand Mr Thomson co-operate with a NSW police investigation into the HSU.
- April 18 - Mr Brown calls for a report commissioned by the HSU's East branch into alleged financial mismanagement and credit card misuse to be released publicly.
- April 23 - Ms Jackson goes to the Federal Court claiming 17 members of the HSU East branch are not entitled to vote at union council meetings.
- April 26 - Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten applies to have the HSU East branch placed into administration. Unions NSW, ACTU and Mr Brown welcome the move, but Ms Jackson accuses Mr Shorten of "grandstanding".
- April 27 - A meeting of the HSU top brass in Sydney calls for Ms Jackson to resign but admits it cannot remove her forcibly. Former industrial relations commissioner Errol Hodder is appointed to deal with internal charges against Mr Williamson and Ms Jackson as the new union ombudsman.
- April 29 - Ms Gillard announces Mr Thomson will be quitting the Labor Party to sit on the crossbench as an independent.
- May 7 - Fair Work Australia delivers its report.
- May 9 - NSW Labor Party confirms it paid Mr Thomson's legal bill over the Fair Work Australia investigation into the misuse of union funds.
- May 21 - Craig Thomson gives 58-minute speech to parliament addressing allegations against him, claiming he was the victim of an elaborate identity theft.
- June 6 - Former prostitute who claimed in an interview with A Current Affair to have slept with Mr Thomson recants and apologises, claiming a case of "complete mistaken identity".
- October 15 - Fair Work Australia takes Federal Court action alleging Mr Thomson misused hundreds of thousands of dollars in union funds.
- October 24 - Fraud squads from NSW and Victoria raid Craig Thomson's house, seizing computers and other items.
- December 4 - Mr Thomson formally denies spending union money on prostitutes and improperly using his position as Health Services Union national secretary in a 28-page defence lodged in the Federal Court.
- January 31 - Mr Thomson is arrested at his electorate office on the NSW Central Coast and is due to face court in Victoria on 150 counts of fraud, which his lawyer says he denies.
- November 2007 - Craig Thomson, national secretary of the Health Services Union since 2002, wins the seat of Dobell in Labor's federal election victory.
- January 2008 - Kathy Jackson takes over from Mr Thomson as general secretary of the HSU and finds accounts in the Melbourne office in disarray.
- May 2008 - An audit sent to Ms Jackson raises "concerns about possible misuse of union funds by Mr Thomson".
- July 2008 - Fair Work Australia asks the HSU what is happening with its 2007 financial return.
- December 2008 - Ms Jackson writes to lawyers Slater and Gordon instructing them to engage tax specialists BDO Kendall to "conduct an investigation".
- April 2009 - FWA commences an inquiry into the union.
- April 6 - Industrial registrar Doug Williams writes to Ms Jackson asking for the 2007 and 2008 accounts audited and signed.
- April 7 - Ms Jackson tells Mr Williams of "possible financial irregularities revealed by the exit audit and ongoing BDO Kendall investigation".
- April 8 - Fairfax Media alleges Mr Thomson used his union credit cards to help fund his election campaign and pay for a number of personal expenses, including escort services.
- April 9 - HSU Victorian secretary Jeff Jackson is accused by HSU state president Pauline Fegan of using his union credit card to pay more than $1400 over four months for escort services.
- September 2009 - FWA interviews Ms Jackson.
- March 2010 - FWA notifies the union's national office that the inquiry has become an investigation.
- August 20 - Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and NSW premier Barry O'Farrell call on Prime Minister Julia Gillard to explain the Thomson saga.
- August 24 - The HSU says it will fully cooperate with a NSW police investigation into Mr Thomson and calls on the Labor MP to publicly explain "financial irregularities" it has found.
- August 25 - Federal Labor denies claims the government interfered in FWA's ongoing investigation into the finances of the HSU.
- August 26 - Ms Jackson says she won't be intimidated after a shovel is placed on the doorstep of her Melbourne home. Ms Gillard denies she knew about allegations surrounding Mr Thomson and his former union before the public did.
- September 8, 2011 - NSW police drop their investigation into allegations Mr Thomson misused a union credit card, saying they had no evidence.
- September 22 - Mr Williamson is suspended on full pay as HSU national president following allegations he embezzled union funds. Chris Brown is appointed acting national president a few days later.
- November, 2011 - A motion of no confidence against Ms Jackson as HSU executive president is passed at the union's annual conference. Ms Jackson vows to stay as head of the union until end of 2014.
- March 14, 2012 - FWA's investigation into HSU Victoria No 1 branch is completed. Three former officials are said to face Federal Court action.
- April 3, 2012 - FWA says its investigations are complete.
- April 5 - The ACTU suspends the HSU until the union can resolve its governance and financial management issues.
- April 8 - Pressure mounts for Mr Williamson to be sacked from Unions NSW.
- April 9 - Ms Jackson calls for the union's national executive to resign and let members elect a new leadership.
- April 10 - Divisions within the embattled HSU's top brass deepen, with branches of the union threatening to break away unless the leadership dispute is resolved.
- April 12 - Unions NSW votes to dump Mr Williamson as its vice-president and also moves to suspend the troubled union from its organisation.
- April 13 - Infighting within the HSU intensifies, with Ms Jackson charging Mr Williamson under the HSU's rules in a bid to have him removed.
- April 15 - The federal opposition calls on Ms Gillard to demand Mr Thomson co-operate with a NSW police investigation into the HSU.
- April 18 - Mr Brown calls for a report commissioned by the HSU's East branch into alleged financial mismanagement and credit card misuse to be released publicly.
- April 23 - Ms Jackson goes to the Federal Court claiming 17 members of the HSU East branch are not entitled to vote at union council meetings.
- April 26 - Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten applies to have the HSU East branch placed into administration. Unions NSW, ACTU and Mr Brown welcome the move, but Ms Jackson accuses Mr Shorten of "grandstanding".
- April 27 - A meeting of the HSU top brass in Sydney calls for Ms Jackson to resign but admits it cannot remove her forcibly. Former industrial relations commissioner Errol Hodder is appointed to deal with internal charges against Mr Williamson and Ms Jackson as the new union ombudsman.
- April 29 - Ms Gillard announces Mr Thomson will be quitting the Labor Party to sit on the crossbench as an independent.
- May 7 - Fair Work Australia delivers its report.
- May 9 - NSW Labor Party confirms it paid Mr Thomson's legal bill over the Fair Work Australia investigation into the misuse of union funds.
- May 21 - Craig Thomson gives 58-minute speech to parliament addressing allegations against him, claiming he was the victim of an elaborate identity theft.
- June 6 - Former prostitute who claimed in an interview with A Current Affair to have slept with Mr Thomson recants and apologises, claiming a case of "complete mistaken identity".
- October 15 - Fair Work Australia takes Federal Court action alleging Mr Thomson misused hundreds of thousands of dollars in union funds.
- October 24 - Fraud squads from NSW and Victoria raid Craig Thomson's house, seizing computers and other items.
- December 4 - Mr Thomson formally denies spending union money on prostitutes and improperly using his position as Health Services Union national secretary in a 28-page defence lodged in the Federal Court.
- January 31, 2013 - Mr Thomson is arrested at his electorate office on the NSW Central Coast and is due to face court in Victoria on 150 counts of fraud, which his lawyer says he denies.
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