Federal MP Bill Shorten was manoeuvring behind the scenes to have Health Services Union Victorian No.1 branch General Manager Kimberley Kitching replace Julia Gillard in the safe Melbourne seat of Lalor. A background check of Ms Kitching makes the mind boggle as to how anyone in their right mind could have contemplated supporting her as a candidate. What is just as disturbing is how she ended up at the HSU.
This was is in direct opposition to Julia Gillard’s preferred candidate Joanne Ryan and Mr Shorten says he was playing no active role which is a lie.
It is also reported that Kimberley Kitching had the support of the AWU of which Bill Shorten was once the National Secretary. Ms Kitching has withdrawn as a candidate yesterday (click here to read more), but we should have a close look at the situation as it shows that the Labor Party have a long way to go with their internal reform.
The Labor Party in recent days have already had to sack the candidate for Bennelong, Jeff Salvestro-Martin, “days before he is due to front the Independent Commission Against Corruption.” (Click here to read more)
This post was hard to write because the more I dig the more corruption I find. But lets start with a bit of the background of a few key players who are new to this sites reporting.
Diana Asmar – Secretary HSU Victoria No 1 Branch
Last year Bill Shorten had former bribe taking judge Michael Moore appointed as the administrator for the HSU. Elections were held in December 2012 and Ms Asmar won the position of Secretary for the No 1 Branch in Victoria. (There are 3 branches in Victoria)
“Ms Asmar is a former mayor of Darebin Council, which is being investigated by the Ombudsman over allegations of misconduct.”
“the Health Services Union’s finance manager, appointed after the union was placed into administration last June, was removed.”
“It is understood Ms Asmar had demanded that she be given the ability to more easily control all spending by the union.”
In January 2013 “at least five industrial organisers and one other official were either sacked or quit last week, Ms Asmar has hired former Melbourne City councillor Kimberley Kitching on a temporary basis as the new general manager.” (Click here to read more)
Last year’s election for the Health Services Union Victorian No.1 branch is worth noting
“AN ALLEGED assault with a car by a firebrand Labor blogger; claims of mail tampering; tens of thousands of dollars spent on direct mail, flyers, posters, DVDs and a slick YouTube campaign: Welcome to elections for the Health Services Union’s main Victorian branch, which began on Monday.”
“Mr Bolano said that on Tuesday night a member of his campaign team was hit by a car driven at slow speed by blogger Andrew Landeryou.”
“Mr Landeryou, who is close to Mr Shorten and supporting Ms Asmar’s campaign, vehemently denies the claim.”
Marco Bolano is associated with Kathy Jackson and was running in the election against Diane Asmar and Mr Landeryou is married to Kimberley Kitching.
“Tens of thousands of dollars appear to have been spent on the campaign to elect Ms Asmar, a former mayor of Darebin who may soon be named in a damning Ombudsman investigation of the council.”
“Ms Asmar says she is employed just one day a week. Despite this, her campaign has seen at least eight direct mailouts to members, YouTube videos, a special DVD mailed to members, phone polling and posters at hospitals.” (Click here to read more)
Ms Asmar is married to David Asmar who works for Senator Stephen Conroy. Senator Conroy and Bill Shorten run the Labor Party faction in Victoria known as the ShortCons.
Kimberley Kitching
Ms Kitching is married to Andrew Landeryou who runs the site Vexnews. She is a Lawyer and former bankrupt and currently General Manager of the HSU Victoria No 1 Branch after calling in a favour from Diana Asmar who has been the secretary of the No 1 Branch since the union election in December 2012.
The favour that Diana Asmar owed Kimberley Kitching is that her husband Mr Landeryou used his site Vexnews to promote Diana Asmar in the union elections and attack Ms Asmar’s competitors.
Ms Kitching’s bankruptcy
“Kimberley Kitching once fancied herself a potential lord mayor of Melbourne. But six months later the flashy former city councillor, who cruised around Melbourne’s inner suburbs in a $92,000 series 5 BMW, is bankrupt.”
“By her own calculations, Ms Kitching owes about $42,000 on that car. A statement of her affairs shows that she, or someone else, has been parking it wherever they like. Ms Kitching owes more than $6600 in parking fines – many to the Melbourne City Council. She says many of the fines were not incurred by her.”
“That is only part of the picture – all up her debts are $3.8 million.”
“Ms Kitching, 35, filed for bankruptcy on Friday after failing to dissuade retail tycoon Solomon Lew from pursuing a debt for $3 million arising from her husband’s dealings with him.”
“Her husband, Andrew Landeryou, fled overseas in December just days before he was due in court to explain his role in the collapse of the Melbourne University Student Union. He allegedly moved $1 million out of Australia before fleeing. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.” (Click here to read more)
In April 2013 Kimberley Kitching ran for pre-selection in the seat Gellibrand in Victoria, held by the retiring Attorney-General Nicola Roxon. It got very grubby after a dirt sheet was released in relation to one of the other candidates. In a story on the ABC’s 7.30 Report it says:
“It’s ugly stuff and getting uglier. Nicola Roxon has also been drawn into this unedifying brawl. Failed candidate Kimberley Kitching is furious because her team thinks Nicola Roxon is blaming her for the dirt sheet.”
“In an email to members, Kimberley Kitching denied any involvement. She said she’d “swear to this on oath” and didn’t like this type of campaign. Now she’s planning to lodge a complaint against Nicola Roxon with ALP’s head office and is considering legal action against the former Attorney-General. Nicola Roxon strongly rejects the accusations, but would not do so on camera.” (Click here to read more or watch the story)
Andrew Landeryou
Mr Landeryou has a long history of serious allegations being levelled at him starting with some handiwork he did when he was President of the Melbourne University Student Union. There was a multimillion-dollar collapse of the Union in 2004/05 and Mr Landeryou did a runner to Costa Rica to avoid giving evidence in the Supreme Court.
“Landeryou left for the central American nation last December, allegedly telling his now-estranged wife, former Melbourne City councillor Kimberley Kitching, that he was on a business trip to Sydney. She has since filed for bankruptcy and lost possession of her $1.8 million Parkville mansion.”
“Mr Landeryou is answering questions at a liquidator examination that is looking into the affairs of the failed student union.”
“He allegedly moved $1 million out of the country before fleeing and a warrant was issued for his arrest.” (Click here to read more)
And this in an article titled “Landeryou threatened me, says liquidator”
“Mr McVeigh, who is conducting a court examination into the affairs of the failed student union, issued a writ on Tuesday claiming as much as $5 million damages from eight men: Mr Landeryou, three former student union presidents and four former employees.”
“It alleges they conspired to defraud the failed student union by engineering deals that gave a “secret and inordinate financial advantage to friends and mentors”, namely Mr Landeryou, Benjamin Cass and Darren Ray.” (Click here to read more)
Mr Landeryou stopped posting on his site on July 1st 2013 and in effect announced his retirement from blogging which was clearly to assist his wife’s political career as it was an embarrassment politically. He said “It horrified me that there were people – including some who loudly profess feminism and gender equality in public forums – who wouldn’t vote for my wife, Kimberley, in a recent pre-selection because they assumed my views were hers.” (Click here to read more)
I did have plenty of time for Mr Landeryou and his site as he did a story about me in 2009 titled “Fairfax Media lawyers try to imprison critic for committing crime of journalism” after I had sent an email to a number of news sites and bloggers. I never spoke to him at the time but did send a thank you email. I have spoken to him on the phone a couple of times in the last 12 months in relation to this site.
But that does not entitle him to go unchallenged and unchecked for using his site in such a dodgy way. To attack competitors of Diane Asmar in the HSU election and thereby promoting Ms Asmar and then have his wife stick her nose in the unions financial trough almost immediately after the election shows what a grub he is.
Mr Landeryou has attacked HSU whistleblower Kathy Jackson for at least a couple of years which is fine as everyone is accountable. But it is not fine when he does that without divulging his and his wife’s own Labor Party connections and close friendships with Bill Shorten who is an enemy of Kathy Jackson. The assumption has to be made that Mr Landeryou and his wife, Kimberley Kitching was promised financial benefit by Diane Asmar if Mr Landeryou used his site to support her in the HSU Election.
He is nothing more than a right-wing Labor Party troll and as corrupt as any of them.
Mr Landeryou seems to have plenty of enemies and some have set up sites such as Slanderyou New. Its latest posting is:
Andrew Landeryou launches new criminal career?
“We haven’t bothered to update this site for several weeks, patriots, given that the morbidly obese thief and fraudster Andrew Landeryou, sometimes “spouse” of the perjurer, HSU looter and female impersonator Kimberley Ditiching has barely bothered to update his, despite all the recent events and despite his claims to be an ALP insider, but tonight, patriots, we’re worried.” (Click here to read more)
And another post:
“Put a perjurer in parliament “push”
“Just when you thought the Labor Party’s problems couldn’t get any worse, along comes perjurer and former bankrupt Dimberley Ditching demanding a safe seat. Hard working, law abiding and patriotic people tell Slanderyou New she is campaigning under the flag of “Put a perjurer in parliament”.” (Click here to read more)
I have no doubt that Julia Gillard would want someone decent to take her seat which her preferred candidate Joanne Ryan seems. I think Ms Gillard would have been horrified if Kimberley Kitching had won preselection. The Liberals would have been happy though as it would have given them a good chance of winning the seat of Lalor.
The Labor Party in the last few days has announced major reform of the party in NSW and federally to weed out corruption and make the party more democratic. Behind the scenes not much has changed with Bill Shorten playing the role of Pied Piper. Kimberley Kitching will probably have another go for parliament soon with Bill Shorten’s support and what a stuff-up that will be.
Bill Shorten MP has been involved in some of the grubbiest corruption anyone has seen for a long time and has helped facilitate the return of corruption at the Health Services Union (HSU) only a matter of months since the corruption plagued HSU was meant to have been cleaned up.
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Categories: Bill Shorten, Julia Gillard, Senator Stephen Conroy
Shane, How on Earth can Kitching run for public office if she’s a bankrupt?Cheers, Chris Ottaway.
She is no longer bankrupt.
She and a lot of others are Morally bankrupt.
HSU resources have been used for Gellibrand and Lalor preselections for one particular candidate
I must say, watching the eventual Rudd coup unfold, Shorten came out of it looking like the basest of opportunists, even by Australian political standards. Stories like become more understandable now that the real nature of this man is public knowledge.
This just stinks yet the Canberra press gallery just love shorten and that other well known gentleman Mr Krudd. Why isn’t this in the newspapers or on talkback let alone on T V. I am amazed at the level of corruption that this ALP party wont stoop to get its own low life’s in position of power. I will pass this on to quite a few of my friends who by the way think this current government is corrupt anyway this only confirms it.
Corruption in all levels of alp ..has been for years
Guess who is paying heaps of money to newspapers and TV stations regarding political advertising. Guess who funds the ABC. Guess who approves members of the press gallery (people wanting favours from ALP). Corruption by/in the media is a threat to democracy
IF Tony Abbott is elected let’s hope he brings some accountability to Union organisations. The level of corruption and overspending of Union and Taxpayer money by ALP, as shown in your posts, must be stopped if Australian politics earns respect (I used KR favorite word…stop)
I have followed the incredible story of this Mr Landeryou and his wife for a long time. It reads like a thriller. I thought they were just about caught last year, when they lost their Parkville mansion. Apparently there has been new infusion of monies as they are still there.. Ms Gillard oversaw the bankruptcy of the Student unions in her time, still managed’to become prime Minister, obviously Ms Kitchings is striving to follow in her footsteps. Unbelievable.
It is also unbelievable that the MSM has not picked this up, I am really wondering what they are getting out of it, is looks like a type of treason to me.
With the election just around the corner, this is another golden opportunity for the Liberals to pick up on and to further expose the corruption that is going on, but as usual, they have ignored it. I’m starting to feel quite hopeless to be honest.
I feel if the Libs target the Union corruption too heavy then the Unions will throw even more money into the advertising for ALP before the election is called.
Please keep comments on topic of the post.
I am now in a state of hopelessness. It sees that today the liars, cheats, corrupt and thieves are in charge. People like Shorten who support the corrupt and will ‘knife’ anybody including a sitting PM TWICE! What makes me weep is they get away with it. The law seems to on the side of the ‘criminals’ and not the victims and we are all the victims of Labor and union corruption. Shorten is a deceitful liar.
With the likes of Shorten, Carr, Rudd etc etc, Labor is a pit full of vipers solely intent on attacking anyone or anything that stands in the way. We may have thought Julia was/ is bad news [and she is] but she’s a pussy cat compared to what’s left.
Your lesson to take away from the VexNews incident is that to any normal observer is was PAINFULLY obvious vexnews was started to try and create a fake news site to engineer debate.
As Shakespeare said, the agents of our destruction lead us on by being truthful with little trifles- to betray us in deepest verity.
Fortunately the odious wodge behind vex self imploded prior to his having any impact on public opinion at all.
Totaly agree and VEX would’nt be the only one out their set-up to decieve
The thieving, conning, conniving, lying, cheating, back-stabbing Labor government members and co-horts in their cess-pool, allow it to continue frothing and bubbling. The annoyance to sensible people since Rudd returned has shown that many people choose to ignore the stink in the air.
my (educated) guess here is that we have not reached the bottom of this ALP and union rabbit hole yet.
this is just the tea party…
Andrew Bolt on the Bolt Report Sunday 14th declared that he is involved in, and a supporter of, the Kimberly Kitching for Senate campaign. Perhaps you could forward him everything you have Shane and perhaps he will wake up to himself. Moderator: Rest deleted as off topic
Why are nitwits like Landeryou and Kitching (who are basically rogue “entrepreneurs”) involved in union politics at all? I can’t help but feel Michael Danby is playing some role in this.
Cronyism & nepotism is more active than ever before at the HSU. HSU members would be appalled if only they knew. Asmar has full control of HSU spending and the Board members, very sad.
Levels of corruption of this ilk, consolidated with intimacies of hand in glove political/union corruption, digressing to the Victorian Norm Gallagher ‘head honcho’ years, continues to forge ahead at the same speed as runaway, fully loaded locomotive.
Say what you will, think what you will, disagree at will, shout from the top of a minaret, when the friggin’ hell are these situations going to end, and which body of force in this country of mainly apathetic individuals have the guts to put and decisive finale to the whole shebang. There is a slight possibility that it may be taken into consideration after they have discussed who, when , where or what caused the win/loss of their footy team and who is the bonzer bloke for whom they argue/agree to cast their vote in the next election.
I know this won’t be printed Shane, but this voice, and others in the wilderness will create earthquakes in Parliament.