Slater & Gordon lawyers and the accounting firm BDO Kendall (now BDO) conducted a forensic investigation into Craig Thomson’s fraud at the HSU in 2009. Below is six pages of their report.
After reading this post what becomes obvious is the Fair Work Australia report is nothing more than a glorified, delayed and rebadged Slater and Gordon / BDO report which was completed in 2009. So why did FWA take so long (28th March 2012) to complete their report?
This report is extremely important as it shows who knew what and when. As far back as 2009 the HSU, Fair Work Australia and the Labor party were well aware that Mr Thomson fraudulently ripped of the union. So why the delay in any action? Also there are a few people who actually believe the lies that Craig Thomson told in his address to parliament and the conspiracy theory he put forward which makes the report relevant.
A brief overview for readers who have not followed the story. Craig Thomson worked for the Health Services Union (HSU) for many years. In 2007 he was elected to federal parliament. After he was elected the HSU did an audit (2008) and found he had ripped off the union mainly using his credit card for such things as prostitutes, Nike shoes, electrical goods, election funding and cash withdrawals etc which totals over $500,000.
The HSU brought in the law firm Slater & Gordon to investigate and then brought in the accounting firm BDO Kendall (now BDO) in February 2009 for a forensic investigation of the fraud. In March 2009 it was brought to the attention of the AIR, firstly by an anonymous tip and then by a formal complaint from the HSU. (Click here to see the FWA report starting at page 26 paragraph 49 for the details) The AIR started making initial inquiries.
“On 8 April 2009 the Sydney Morning Herald published a story alleging that Craig Thomson used union credit cards to pay for prostitutes, withdraw over $100,000 in cash and fund his election campaign for the federal seat of Dobell. Thomson sued the newspaper for defamation, but withdrew proceedings when evidence was produced showing that the payments were made from his credit card, his drivers licence was checked and photocopied, and phone calls to escort agencies were made from his mobile phone and hotel rooms.” (Click here to read more on Wikipedia)
In June 2009 the completed report was given to the National Executive of the HSU. A copy of the report was sent to the AIR which was part of the Australian Industrial Relation Commission (the predecessor to FWA). By the end of 2009 the AIRC and AIR had closed and FWA had taken over (FWA started in July 2009 which means there was a six month transitional period). In the FWA report it can be seen where they are talking about the Slater / BDO report in November 2009 so they had the report at least by then and highly likely earlier if not in June when the AIR already had it.
It has come to light in recent days of a so-called “smoking gun” email which The Australian has reported as:
“FAIR Work Australia was advised three years ago that it should consider referring the investigation into the Health Services Union and embattled MP Craig Thomson to police.”
“An email obtained by the Coalition in Senate Estimates shows FWA was advised on June 30, 2009 the day before it began formal operations that it should devise a “clear plan” for referral to authorities including police and professional licensing bodies.” (Click here to read more)
The email was sent from Doug Williams the then chief executive of the AIRC to Terry Nassios who headed up the investigation into Mr Thomson. The actual investigation did not start until March 2010 although inquires had started earlier as I mentioned above.
The email is important and very powerful but it is the Slater & Gordan / BDO report that is the major smoking gun. It does not matter whether or not Terry Nassios was advised to take it to the police, the Slater & Gordon / BDO report which he had was enough reason why he should have gone to the police which the six pages below show.
Terry Nassios and Fair Work Australia finished their report in March 2012. The investigation was overseen firstly by FWA general manager Tim Lee, a former union official and Labor appointee who was later promoted to the bench then by Bernadette O’Neill another former union official.
Below are the pages with the key parts highlighted then the questions that they raise.
As mentioned the Slater & Gordon / BDO report is mentioned in the Fair Work Australia report and is actually attached as annexure J. Unfortunately even though the report is readily available on-line the annexure is not. This needs to be made public in full.
1. Why did Craig Thomson not mention Slater and Gordon and the accounting firm BDO as part of the conspiracy against him in his speech to parliament? Why did he not mention the conspiracy of HSU officials including Victorian HSU official Marco Bolano of setting him up with hookers when he was interviewed by Slater and Gordon / BDO back in 2009. As we know because his conspiracy theory is just a straight out lie which has been shot down badly.
2. Fair Work Australia were given a copy of the Slater & Gordon report in 2009. Why did they not go to the police then? As has come out in the last few days they were advised that is something they should have looked at doing.
At section 73 of the FWA report it says:
A copy of the report by Slater & Gordon and BDO Kendalls (HSUNO.019.0050) (the BDO Kendalls Report) was received by the AIR on 17 June 2009 under cover of a letter from Slater & Gordon dated 16 June 2009 (HSUNO.019.0049). A copy of the BDO Kendalls Report is included at Appendix J to this report.
The AIR mentioned above is the Australian Industrial Relations Commission which is the predecessor to Fair Work Australia. The AIR closed at the end of 2009 and FWA took over. At the time the matter was in the hands of the AIR. Terry Nassios was also involved in the HSU inquiries at the AIR as he was then working at the AIR.
At page paragraph 67 of the FWA report it says “On 1 June 2009, in my capacity as Acting Industrial Registrar, I wrote to Ms Jackson (FWA.005.0073) acknowledging receipt of documents that were provided under cover of her letter dated 22 May 2009 (HSUNO.019.0134) and requesting that she also provide credit card statements and draft minutes.”
And at paragraph 68 it says “I received a letter dated 3 June 2009 (HSUNO.018.0484) from Ms Jackson advising that the report from Slater & Gordon would not be available by 4 June 2009” It was later delivered on the 17th of June. But Terry Nassios had to have known and seen the report back in June 2009 and he completed his report in March 2012. Slater and Gordon and BDO had done all the heavy lifting. Why did it take him so long? There is no believable excuse except that it was a deliberate go slow routine.
3. Why did the Labor party not take action earlier?
Former Labor politician, Graham Richardson has admitted that back in March 2010 he advised Craig Thomson to drop his defamation proceedings against Fairfax Media which Mr Thomson had initiated after Fairfax Media published the fraud allegation in April 2009.
Graham Richardson wrote in The Australian:
“I met Thomson in March 2010. I told him that I was aware that if he continued on with his defamation case against Fairfax he would be destroyed and inevitably he would be bankrupted. He denied everything about the Woolloomooloo brothel. I told him about the driver’s licence. He said that details of his driver’s licence had been copied by parties unknown. The only time he hesitated in his denials was when I told him that calls had been made on his mobile phone between the central coast and the city to the brothel in question. He could only say he had no explanation.”
“I told him that saying all these things had been stolen were ridiculous given that the phones, credit cards etc were used by him the very next day. He undertook to seek a settlement with Fairfax immediately. That was yet another lie. The case went on for more than a year after this and racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees which had to be paid by the NSW ALP to prevent his bankruptcy.” (Click here to read more)
If Graham Richardson knew that Craig Thomson was guilty of ripping off the union back in March 2010 then more senior people in the ALP would have known as well. Why did they not take action then? And why did they pay his legal bills if they knew he was guilty of a crime? Concealing a crime is a crime in itself. I am sure the police will be interviewing Graham Richardson very shortly if they already haven’t.
4. Criminal conduct of Tim Lee, Bernadette O’Neill and Terry Nassios
The former general manager of FWA Tim Lee, the current general manager Bernadette O’Neill and Terry Nassios are all clearly guilty of concealing the criminal offences of Craig Thomson. Once they where in receipt of the Slater & Gordon / BDO report they had an obligation to go to the police. They did not.
They are now refusing to be interviewed by the police who are conducting a criminal investigation into Mr Thomson. They say they can not legally be interviewed by the police because of the FWA Act/rules. This is a straight out lie. The reality is there are two key questions they do not want to answer.
1. Why did you not go to the police when you were given a copy of the Slater & Gordon / BDO report?
Answer by Terry Nassios: I was told not to by Tim Lee and then when Bernadette O’Neill took over as general manager she also told me not to.
Result: Police lay criminal charges against Time Lee and Bernadette O’Neill for concealing the criminal offences of Mr Thomson. And possibly Mr Nassios as well.
2. Why did it take so long to do the FWA investigation?
Answer by Terry Nassios: I was told to put the go slow routine on the investigation by Tim Lee and Bernadette O’Neill.
Result: Police lay criminal charges against Time Lee and Bernadette O’Neill for concealing the criminal offences of Mr Thomson. And possibly Mr Nassios as well.
FWA had a report from BDO who are a global accounting firm and it says on their website:
“Our team includes forensic investigators and risk management specialists who assist clients by providing practical and achievable strategies to reduce the risk of Fraud & Corruption” (Click here to read more)
The report was signed off by the well-known union and labor law firm Slater & Gordon who would not set up a labor politician. At that point FWA had no choice but to go to the police.
The FWA report is riddled with references to the Slater & Gordon / BDO report and even used as part of the questioning by FWA to Craig Thomson and others. Go to the FWA report and do a search for Slater and Gordon or BDO and you can see for yourself. As I said at the beginning the Fair Work Australia report in nothing more than a rebadged Slater & Gordon / BDO report. (Click here for the FWA report)
FWA have brought in an outside consultancy to review why they took so long to investigate Craig Thomson. The review is a waste of tax payers money. I have done my review above which the bottom line is that it took so long because of the criminal conduct of Tim Lee, Bernadette O’Neill and Terry Nassios.
Report on suspected irregularities in the expenditure of the HSU National Office
The above leaked report first hit the media at the end of March and was first reported by Steve Lewis and Andrew Clennell in the Sydney paper The Daily Telegraph (Click here to read). A copy of the six leaked pages hit my inbox not long after by one of my regular readers. But I decided not to publish it at that time as the Fair Work Australia report was due in the near future and was unsure how reliable the leaked pages were. But the Slater & Gordon / BDO report is referenced in the FWA report so the leak pages are highly likely authentic. After an on-line search Miranda Devine seems to be the first and only other person to have published the pages in full. (Click here to see) Although Andrew Bolt published part of it.
The Slater & Gordon / BDO report was relevant when The Daily Telegraph did the story and Miranda Devine published it. But it is a lot more relevant now we can see the FWA report referencing it so much. It needs to be made public and should be the starting point for a royal commission.
There is an online petition going called “The Thomson Resign Petition” which managed to get over 8,000 signatures in just over a week before it was taken down but is now back up. I phoned one of the petitioners and he told me it was taken down from the US host site probably because of some of the harsh comments in the comment section. It would be good for as many people as possible to sign it. I have. It does matter who you vote for or support, it is about sending a clear message to all politicians of what the Australian public expect and will not tolerate from their politicians. I am told it will be tendered to federal parliament. (Click here to sign the petition)
As a side note back at the end of February 2012 Electrical Trades Union New South Wales secretary Bernie Riordan “accused of pocketing $1.8 million in directors fees was appointed a commissioner of Fair Work Australia just the day after long-running legal action against him was withdrawn.” (Click here to read more) I wonder who put the call through to make sure the legal action was dropped so he could be appointed to FWA?
It would be greatly appreciated if you spend a minute using Twitter, Facebook and email etc and promote this post. Just click on the icons below.
And make sure you follow this site by email which is on the top right of this page and about once a week you will get an email when there is a new post/story on this site.
This site is fully funded by myself, both time wise and monetary wise. If you would like to support the continuance and growth of this site it would be greatly appreciated if you make a donation, buy a t-shirt, coffee mug or a copy of my book. The links are below.
If you would like to buy a t-shirt or coffee mug visit my online shop (Click here to visit the shop)
If you would like to buy a copy of my non-fiction book on corruption in the Australian judiciary that names names visit my website for the book which has links to the online bookshops. (Click her to visit the website)
Thank you for your support.
Categories: Craig Thomson, Fairfax Media
i really as a simple person don’t understand any of it , i know that any person doing this would be arrested and charges but there appears to be no intent of doing this
why was he not charges years ago , and surly should now be in jail ? Graham Richardson gives him advice re a credit charge to a whore house , if u would not take it as serious you would laugh , is Richardson a lawyer ?i could add more re other credit card charges made by Thomson that i by accident found out about but wont due to the law
by the way , does anyone rememberer some time ago a interview with leann ederstein former wife of dr ederstein , where she stated she went to someone in the labour party to try and have charges against her husband dropped , she spoke to a man at a table while sitting across from them was another man at another table , the man stated he could get a Labor party power broker to do something about it if she loved her husband and was prepared to sleep with the labour party power-broker , to which she replied she did not love her husband that much !!! well can any one guess who that Labor party power-broker might be ?
these people in the labour party are beyond human belief ! i want to be sick to my stomach , animals who have to steal money or use their position to sleep with a woman or a prostitute, the rest of us might not have their power or money but im sure can at least meet a normal woman if we were so interested in this
THIS THOMSON SAGA IS BEYOND BELIEF. ALL THIS INFORMATION ABOUT HIS DISHONESTY YET THERE HE IS GRINNING WITH DELIGHT AT THE DIRTY TRICK HE HAD JUST PLAYED ON THE COALITION,
I WONDER IF THE LIBERAL DOCTOR WAS STILL CONCERNED ABOUT HIS MENTAL STATE AFTER WATCHING HIS GRUBBY PERFORMANCE.
THE WAY THINGS ARE PANNING OUT THOMSON WILL STAY IN PARLIAMENT TILL THE ELECTION RECEIVING HIS SUBSTANTIAL SALERY AND OF COURSE, PICK UP HIS FAT PENSION,
The “Liberal Doctor” you refer to is what Stalin used to refer to as a “useful idiot”. The Libs have a duty to pursue this affair with all determination and vigor, regardless of whether Thomson uses the “I might do something stupid” gambit. Restoring the integrity of OUR Parliament is far too important.
Shane, great article. I find it difficult to understand exactly your most important point. Is it that Lee, O’Neill and possibly Nassios could be charged for obstructing justice for not giving the original Slater/Gordon/BDO report/s to the police in 2009? I so desperately want this Government to end, is there any way this can bring down the Government, can Bill Shorten be shown to have been involved in the go slow?
It is not obstructing so much but concealment of a crime. There was clear evidence of criminal offences (fraud and theft) in the Slater & Gordon / BDO report. Lee, Nassios and later O’Neill should have gone to the police then and they would have known that. They did not go to the police because they wanted to conceal Craig Thomson’s crimes and protect him. Bill Shorten was only appointed as the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations at the end of last year so he was not the minister back in 2009. Julia Gillard was the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations in 2009.
Ouch.
Is the current Prime Minister, who was previously the Minister for Employment & Workplace relations possibly guilty of concealing a crime? Now, there’s something to think about.
@SkyNewsAust @FoxNews #auspol
Is JuLiar — previously the Minister for Employment & Workplace relations — guilty of concealing a crime …?
Again.
And of being the direct beneficiary of crimes?
Again.
And of pathologically lying about who and more particularly WHAT (“modified” Marxist) is the Real JuLiar!
Still.
Pure & simply put the Labor party is a criminal organization.
The lying welsh witch at the helm will do and say anything to remain in power, hers and the party’s protection of Thomson is appalling
The people are getting more angry by the day, baseball bats at the ready.
Way to go, Leeb!
Well — and notwithstanding Pure and Simply — Put!
Hear! Hear!
can any one name a labour party politition or union high up whose children don’t attend university , is this the definition of a battler ?
you might remember Richardson when evidence was given in court re a supposed murder of the girlfriend of rene rivkens driver , he was sitting at the table with rivken and g richardson when Richardson asked rivken to move him to another table , he did not want a lowly driver sitting at the table , the party of the educated and super rich , the labour party , it leaves the worker to only vote for the liberals as many of them are plain folk like the workers
And how surprising that Julia used her old firm, SLAG, for the whitwash.
Yes, it is ironic that the same names keep cropping up.
Yes, good stuff Shane. Bernadette O’Neill squirmed a lot in her seat when Eric Abetz went after her last week during the televised Senate Estimates event.
I think the point of the story is that obviously something has gone wrong and a person who is a member of our Australian Parliament has caused the wrong. The persons investigating this wrong are predominantly legal professionals (Lawyers). That is the keepers of our laws, laws that we as Australians believe work for the protection of our society, have through due process obfuscated their responsibilities to those laws and not had the matter dealt with expeditiously. In other words they have sat back and allowed those laws to be corrupted. One has to ask the question why. The answer most probably is because they themselves are also corrupt.
When the members of the Australian Parliament are notified of criminal activity by members of the legal profession, whether it be fraud overcharging, incompetence ect ect ect they refer these issues to the head lawyer our Attorney General. The reponse from this organisation is one of inaction. In other words they are told of the criminal activity they are asked to act and they do nothing. Why? Simple they are also corrupt.
It does not matter from which political party they profess to represent if they are lawyers they only represent the legal profession. A profession that has created the laws administers and practices the laws in their own self-interest. They strip individuals and families of whatever assets they have through expensive and lengthy litigious processes and whenever they are asked to be accountable for their actions hide under the carpet of legal client privilege.
Remember Julia Gillard, Wayne Swann, Tony Abbott and Nicola Roxon are all members of our parliament but first and foremost they are lawyers and they owe their allegiances to their rotten and corrupt profession that makes money by creating disputes that in the end destroys the lives of members of Australian Families.
Words have failed me over this whole Craig Thomson affair. My son, his wife and 2 children live in Thomson’s electorate, my son was telling me the mood re Labor is not good in his street nor his place of work, even Labor faithfuls are in disgust at this ugly mess.
FWA needs to be investigated as well..but we all know that would take another 4 years…and that’s before anyone even rings their doorbell!
Great Article Shane.
Just goes to show how bad Labor has been for a long , long time.
‘To Know and not to Act’ has been Labor Policy in relation to Craig Thomson.
Is it any wonder Labor is such a Bad Brand , unless major changes are made Labor
will fade away. Unions will still hold hands with Labor and offer financial support causing
their demise. Face major change or perish.
Only an Election can offer clean air.
If you care to add up how much money has been spent on this cover up for ONE person, namely Thomson (let alone the others like Kathy Jackson, David Whats-his-name who have their heads in the union money trough), you will see that the combined waste of FWA plus the $1.1M in legal fees, plus the S & G mob and Kendells fees, the money could have been spent by the Red Queen elsewhere: some food parcels to aged pensioners, wheelchairs to those who can’t find the money from of their pensions, some extra Gold Cards to war veterans just to name a few who are really struggling.
But no, let’s keep ’em all poor so that they keep control …
… just stand on the backs of the lowly paid, the semi-literate and the unskilled so the union leaders continue to pull the wool over their eyes
Alison,
She has just spent millions of taxpayer’s money to perpetuate the name of the second worst pm in Australian history.
When she is on tv most people switch off for fear of throwing a brick they hate her so much, and when the bludger boy friend is on he gets the same treatment.
Yep – It’s all falling into place (for the Labor Party) with continued obfuscation & delays all designed to spin things out until the window of opportunity narrows to get Thomson (& now it seems others at FWA!), into a criminal court to answer charges (not yet laid!), such that the next Fed Election will be upon us before any legal outcome is likely.
Thomson will then disappear into the dustbin of Australian political history never to be heard, nor seen of again! Wouldn’t surprise me if Thomson’s already on a promise of a substantial ‘benefit’ plus of course his Govt Super etc provided he departs our shores for many years to come for a ‘Life of Riley’, probably in the south of Spain or the like!
The Labor Party, for the workers, from the workers, with the workers. Yes it was once a working mans party but is now controlled by thieves and liars. Ben Chifley and his generation would be totally ashamed of what it has become. A Protection Party of the deceitful and the dishonest. How can any one ever trust a Union Official, Legal system or Politician ever again; after this sort of corruption going on? God Help Australia!
Thanks, Shane, for this information! It should be UNBELIEVABLE but with GILLARDS MOB, I would believe them capable of ANY crime and like the Mafia, cover their backs. I think it was Richardson who said “whatever it takes”! The fact that Gillard was minister for Industrial Relations, at the time when Slater and Gordon investigated Thomson so thoroughly ,for fraud, makes it IMPERATIVE that she answers to the PEOPLE….WHAT DID SHE DO TO HIDE THE TRUTH? The UNIONS are corrupt and any sane person would stop paying union fees immediately! WE MUST HAVE A ROYAL COMMISSION INTO THIS GOVERNMENT although I have never known of any Govt. that required one before! The one person who stands out as the most guilty is GILLARD, who is involved with THOMSON, Slater and Gordon, FWA, UNIONS and is only PM through LIES!
” … any sane person would stop paying union fees immediately!”
We hear so much of the misappropriation of the union-dues of low-paid workers. This is a smokescreen – the Union thugs are trying to deflect attention away from the real mega mountains of cash that they control and won’t give up for anything, or anyone.
It’s the Industry Super Funds that they control that are the flock of big fat geese laying massive golden eggs, but not for the workers who supposedly own the funds – only for the developers, contractors and all the rest for whom these stacked boards are shovelling cash in all directions as they busily “invest” the compulsory funds that began with Keating and has just been increased by Swan.
None of this nest of vipers could ever afford close scrutiny of any one of their number who got just that little bit too greedy, or too randy, or too power-hungry or just too plain bloody stupid.
For any of them to have pounced on Thomson four years ago would have brought exposure of their own corruption because, make no mistake about it, Thomson would have certainly said that if they took any action against him, he wouldn’t go down alone, he’ll take the lot of them with him.
And the lynch-pin Minister who was very snappy about getting rid of the Industrial Relations Commission and installing her hand-picked owed-a-few-favours brace of cronies to take over the “investigation”? Why, surprise, surprise ….. Gillard of course.
None of them will ever be held accountable, lose a cent of their ‘entitlements’ or anything else for that matter because the infrastructure has already been put in place to guarantee that no Prosecutor will ever mount a case against any of them. That’s how Organised Crime works. It’s one thing to have a bunch of thugs at the coal face, but you have to control government, enforcement and the judicial system to render them all teflon-coated.
Job done.
Thats depressing but I believe you blackswan! Any ideas on how to correct this scourge?
We can be in no doubt that these reptiles are still working feverishly to cover their conniving backsides …….
” … Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon, has said the government will shield remaining MPs from such scrutiny by moving Parliament outside the reach of FOI.”
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/slippers-expenses-out-of-the-bag-but-rest-likely-to-stay-secret-20120603-1zq7t.html
“In case the Australian government does try to move the Parliament out of the reach of FOI, on Friday the Herald asked the Parliament for the expenses of every member of the House of Representatives and the Senate.”
If she gets away with this, we can kiss goodbye to any accountability in the expenditure of public funds by these public servants at all, and it will be open slather as they find even more creative ways of misappropriating funds for ever more spurious claims.
What next? More Cabcharge vouchers for a little curb-crawling through the Cross? No, wait, they’ve already got away with that one.
Black Swan,
You are so right unions control of super funds should be put under the microscope…..
I agree Thomson will never sing like a canary he will be looked after in and out of parliament. He know’s how the system works.
Seeing Thomson’s Amazing recovery in parliament was hard to bear for honest hard working Australians.
Black Swan,
Will we ever find out what slippery Peter was doing in the wee small hour at
Kings Cross NO it is not of any consequence and how dare we ask .
So, my question is this…. will anyone of these perps ever be held accountable?
Please, a few bullet points:
Misprison of a felony was a common law offence in NSW and is now encoded in the NSW crimes act. (search austlii)
The globist bankers want to control the world by taxiing what human beings exhale and plants thrive on; carbon dioxide.
The Australian government, particulary the green part are the bankers mates, be it naively and umwittingly. The greens believe Gore.
The bankers will do all through the UN to screw the world with taxes.
Brown, Gillard and crew love power over national interests and are prepared to destroy Aussie manufacturing. Nothing new, look up the Limar declaration in 1975.
Thomson is a side show, but necessary to be protected because he is a number and huge resources will be applied to keep him as a number for the agenda of globalists (like the Greens) and bankers. Have heart people it is all falling apart for them by means of exposures, such as here and now.
Think: how many goods have you recently bought that are produced in our own country?
Hey Shane such a frustrating state of affairs surelly calls for some direct action, how about sending a copy of the S&G report to the Governor General. I see she is prepared to attempt to intefere in an award by the Royal Humane Society (of which she is patron) so perhaps she may have a word in the right place to convey the disgust of a large number of Australian voters.
Oh sorry, just remembered that would involve her upsetting a family connection, can`t have that can we in such a revered institution. .
thank you shane for this further information on the craig thomson quagmire and all the brave work you are doing to expose the truth depth of political and judicial corruption in australia
Its a sad thing that people get elected who go to Canberra with great aspirations, only to be promptly disabused of these aspirations by the party whip, follow the party line and don’t rock the boat. It is I believe the party line which leads on to corruption at many levels, supported and directed by the largely faceless movers and shakers behind the party, and neither party is immune from this problem.
Like many posters here I am in a state of total bewilderment over the fact we are being governed by a number of outright criminals Gillard included. I am normally a placid person but I have reached the stage of screaming “You b****” every time I see Gillard on the TV. this is bad. What to do about it?short of holding out till the next election by which time this herd of useless and destructive morons will have done their best to destroy our society. Perhaps a bit of anarchy is in order?
hmmm can we get a court order in the states that have the outlaw bikie laws to have the labor party banned as a criminal organization so they cannot associate with each other….lol….whats good for one organization should be good for another even though they may dress a little more upmarket…lol
Hi Monaro66 a great idea but which court and which judge and which lawyers are we gong to use. As far as the eye can see it would be very difficult to get an honest Judge an honest lawyer and an honest court to try them in. The problem is our Judicial System is run by a bunch of theives who refuse to enter the modern world and work with standards, obey the trade practices act and provide a quality service.
Number one we have to ensure our Legal Services Commissioners in each state are fired. We need to set up bodies that are independent of the various lawyer unions within each state and we have to make sure these bodies are run by honest non lawyers who are empowered to jail crooked judges and crooked lawyers. These people must be strong and well resourced and protected by government. They must be drawn from organisations who have the interests of Australian Families and the interests of the Australian people at heart. They must be the type of people who will not waiver at the sniff of a dollar. Those people are out there but they are being slaughtered by the tardy mob who have been in control for a very long time such as current Victorain Legal Services Commissioner Micheal McGarvie son of an ex govenor of Victoria who was dispatched by the mob from his position in the Victorian Supreme Court due to the 93 complaints made by the public to the Victorian Ombudsman. He replaced his predessor Victoria Marles after the Victorian Ombudsman wrote a report on this sham office of lawyer regulation, a report by the way that has been kept secret from the people of Victoria because the Law Institute of Victoria pressurised the Attorney general at the time Robert Hulls not to table the report to parliament.
Rest of comment deleted by moderator as off topic and too long.
what a fantastic idea , it would be hard to prove that bikies are a criminal gang but the Labor party is easy , the amount of them in jail for fraud and sexual offences should be enough to get it in , problem is they would be stealing fittings from the court house and even the jail once they are convicted
Today we hear that Princess Julia is moving to have the FOI laws made not applicable to Parliament. Obviously there is no shame in her make up. Throwthefirststone has generously omitted to mention the other two ‘M’s, malfeasance and misfeasance, of which she and her co-conspirators are guilty. A pox and pestilence on the whole corrupt ALP circus.
Great Article, I agree also with Saxon, what can be done, surely this cannot go on another 14 months, they are giving money away again, our money to working families!!!!
What are working families by the way? I work, I have a family and I pay tax, quite allot actually. All I get is tax bills for employing forty people, great eh.
The country is being run into the ground by unions and thugs, they are all at it all of em, look at the way they carried on this week with the announcement of the visa scheme for foreign workers, and that Scottish twat Cameron, he’s a bloody foreigner himself.
Can you imagine the outcry if a Liberal said some of the things these thief’s have said lately, it would be bedlam.
Surely there is something in the constitution that can be evoked to bring down this government, surely what they are doing is treacherous?
Or do we need the GG to do that, fat chance there eh, she is up to her neck in it herself.
Terrible shame.
Some of the comments have said what to do in relation to the corruption? For starters help promote this site and the posts. This website is a grassroots movement. At the start of the year there were 300 email followers now there is over 1000. As this site grows so does the impact it can have and the louder the voice gets.
Regular followers know this site has already rattled a few people in power and moving foward as we grow it can rattle even more and eventually start to drive change.
So use the social media icons on the posts such as Twitter, Facebook and email to help promote the posts. If enough people do it it helps greatly. A couple minutes of your time is all it takes.
And if you do not currently follow this site by email make sure you do and let your friends know. Just put your email address in the section titled “Follow this site via Email” at the top right-hand side of this page. It is free.
There is no reason why this site can not have 2000, 3000 or 5000 etc followers by the end of the year and be a real force. So do your bit and help.
A complete joke is this SAGA,
When is the correct decision to be made on this disaster like charges!!
Why stop at this one union? If all unions were investigated, you would find it was common practice in that period by those in the higher positions all doing the same thing & then they would get together for their annual or state conventions to discuss & brag about it. This HSU saga is just the tip of the iceberg.
Interesting that those publicity sluts of the legal profession, SLAG, were involved in this ‘investigation’. Who put them up to target just this one union? They represent a lot of the unions so they will be well aware that there is more from where this came from.
Dig deeper & uncover the rest of the muck parading as ‘comrades’.
i guess the union battlers have to get the money somewhere to send all their children to uni . im a battler and hard done by , thats why all my children have the best education better even than the super rich
Louie.
Bruce Morton Wilson is proof you can get away with murder.
Thomson knows he will be protected at all costs, and not just because his vote is needed to hold government.
He knows how the system works.
He is now considering standing as an independent at the next election he must be very confident no charges will be laid against him.
Good man Peter, bet your kids respect you for what you have done with Education etc
What a contrast to some of the Grubs named in these posts.
There is a very very strong case to Audit all unions finances and give full disclosure.
Give yourself a payrise? re-sign from your union!
Will I get the same backing and brakes that Thompson is getting if I rip off my sons Piggy Bank??
There must be a Law some where which can bring all of this to a head NOW. If the Liberals will not move some how to bring it to a head, I can only assume that there is a spider in the wood heap that they don’t want to disclose. Any Pollie worth his or her salts has an Ace up their sleeve or they are not a member of a party. They know the moves and groves, so what is the hold up. And I don’t except that the so called independents will not support them so they can’t do any thing. Tonie and the boys and girls are fully conversant in the use of dirty politics, so use them!!
Robert Mugabe of zimbabwe is smiling because he has friends in Australia ( the australian Labor Party) the going on in australian Parliament is exactly the same as that of Mugabes Zanu PF..More and more corruption….and the downfall of the worlds best democarcy…..the longer the ALP is in power the longer all australians are going to suffer hardship….we need to get rid of this ALP……i will personally canvass to get them out
After reading the report etc. it is clear that Thomson is unfit to be in parliament. Look forward to seeing the petition presented by the public and the electorate of Dobell on Craig Thomson. It is really a dirty mess and he should have been sent packing years ago. We know Labor will do and say anything to stay in power. The Fair Work Australia staff should be charged by police for concealing a criminal matter and the “go slow” campaign by Fair Work Australia is clearly Labor political interference.
Australians deserve better and the sooner Craig Thomson and his supportive Labor Government are voted to oblivion the better.
The thing that galls me was the language used by our PM in her Parliament House speech:-“a line has been crossed” & “a dark cloud over parliament” & best of all “confidence”.
Considering her own well documented activities with BM Wilson & the AWU when she was with S & G, I was staggered that nobody stood up in the House & asked her to explain her own hypocrisy & why under the standards she is applying to Thomson & Slipper that she herself should not step aside & be ejected from the ALP.
I have been racking my brains at the missed opportunity & speculating at reasons.
Perhaps the government have the opposition on wood too.
I don’t think Craig Thomson used that prostitute, he had enough union fees to afford better than that.
Its the glasses isn’t it.
A good read. I think I understand the issues here though I must confess I’m not the smartest cookie.
What I don’t understand is why charges have not been bought by Police either State or Commonwealth.
What is stopping them?.
I should imagine if it was a normal citizen with this amount of evidence against them they would long ago have been charged, convicted and be in jail.
It has to be a corruption of process at multiple levels that sees Thomson remain free to thumb his nose at the Australian Public.
To have had this issue play out has it has I can only believe that our Nation is in very deep trouble with the tenticals of corruption leading from Pinocchio Gillard to the Fed, Vic and NSW Police along with FWA and so many others.
This period in our history will long be remembered as a period of unprecedented lies, cover ups, incompetence and total contempt of the Australian people by Labor and it’s politicians.
not just for this craig thomson issue but for all other issues on here as well, i would like to get a definitive answer as to why the mainstream media effectively seems to hide this vital information. they obviously have access to all the reports so they know about it, but just seem to report “golly gosh” stories without any real substance. letting the mass public know the real truth would create such widespread anger that it probably would lead to the downfall of many including this current government.
recently some swimmers have been dragged though the mud (laced with landmines) over a trivial issue of a photo on facebook. they did no crime, threatened nobody, but the media beat it up big time. so why then do they effectively say nothing about such allegedly and apparently provable criminal activity in all ranks of government and our legal system?
i have come to three possible answers:
1) the media are somehow in bed with those accused and are the same kind of people.
2) the media have been threatened into silence.
3) the media have been bribed into silence.
which one is it? another answer?
The media is owned and controlled by the same people who control the politicians. The media and the politicians are not their for the people but for their puppet masters. liberal and Labor probably all drink together after question time! No doubt Thomson is a issue that Labor would love to go away it is still been used as a distraction of bigger issues such as our financial state. The debt ceiling being raised to 300 billion got no air time as all the focus was on Tony Abbott running out of parliament!
Spot on , media are just talking heads , not many real journos left, John Pilger being an exception, Aussie too
1) the media are somehow in bed with those accused and are the same kind of people.
2) the media have been threatened into silence.
3) the media have been bribed into silence.
I’m going for bullet-point 1.
The Union/Labor method of operation in order to get their way is.
1) Bribe. (I suspect Thomson is happy to be at this stage)
2) Threaten.(I suspect Kathy Jackson wants to move Thomson onto stage 3 quickly)
3) Discredit. (listen to the way Swan & Gillard now talk about Rudd)
If the above method is followed methodically in this squence, over time those close to the action know what happens if they don’t fall into line. I suspect Tony Abbott has gone immediately to stage 3.
1. The media are only the whore without a conscience who will do anyone’s bidding for a price.
2. A legal system that is unaccountable and self-regulating that operates in a nation driven by greed and does not hold the development of the Australian family as paramount is easily corrupted, the bribe being the prolonged investigations which wastes tax payer’s money and feeds the lawyer lizards.
3. The corrupt lawyers and courts after accepting the bribes and robbing their victims of all of their assets see nothing wrong in using violence as a means to achieve their ends.
Our constitution is a power sharing arrangement between governments, governments that were created by a set of laws made by lawyers; people and the families of Australia do not play a part in the shaping of these laws and have no part in the power sharing arrangement between governments.
Hence the voters who elected Craig Thomson have no right to call for his sacking or even to have a vote of no confidence in their parliamentary representative.
If any of our political parties could even gather an ounce of credibility towards our community it would be to:
1. Change the constitution to allow the power sharing arrangement to flow to the electorate, the citizens of Australia.
2. Remove the self-regulating legal services commissioners and replace them with well-resourced independent legal ombudsman`s. Who would ensure that whenever there was law reform occurring in the areas that directly impacted upon Australian families the interests of those families would be well represented and funded on the law reform committees instead of the current lawyer dominated regime.
3. Ensure our legal system operates under a set of quality control standards that protects Australian families from corrupt legal professionals.
The implementation of these measures would rid our nation of the current distortion, al`a Craig Thompson, that has been bought about by having a lawyer dominated parliament, lawyers who have been trained and accept the realm of the Kangaroo Court.
Craig Thomson did nothing wrong, but Kathy jackson sure has a high life style to support in her $84,000 Volvo, the $270,000 pay packet and so on.
It’s a public holiday today Marilyn. I don’t know of any other Labor paid PR staffers/trollers working today. Only people with their backsides on the line in their own business’ are working today. Go on take the day off with your family, you deserve the break. The country needs people like you to be fresh and ready to complain. This Govt needs people to redistribute wealth to, wealth created by those who work and take risks in business. Take it easy friend, go out and celebrate our wonderful Monarchy.
As I have not voted for the ALP since 1983 and never will again I fail to see how I can be an ALP paid troll.
Your original comment was stupid enough to make you one.
Craig Thomson is so so guilty ,glad I have not been subsidising his life style with HSU Union dues.
Thomson and Gillard safe
Trade Unions, including the HSU East Branch, are not incorporated Companies under the auspices of ASIC.
They are “Registered Associations” under the Trade Unions Act of 1958 and loosely administered by an internally elected Executive.
So, no matter what “crimes” are committed by union officials in respect of our Criminal
Code, they simply do not apply as they would in an incorporated, listed or PTY LTD Company. These ASIC controlled entities have shareholders with proper protections under existing legislation. Unions have paying members who should also be protected… they are not, only Union Officials are!
Unions are, in effect, above laws that apply to us normal folk.
So no matter what Thomson has done, the Union itself can declare, under its own constitution, that he was not acting outside its own rules. In other words Thomson could pay for 20 hookers a night, shout them a $5,000 wardrobe each week and send them on an all expenses paid holiday each year… all on Union funds while not breaking one single law… if the Union agreed.
Now, for Thomson to be charged under the Criminal Code, someone would have to prefer charges from within the Union. That someone was Kathy Jackson and she did just that.
ENTER BILL SHORTEN. He wanted Jackson out of there for very good reason. No-one else in the Union would be preferring charges because they were also guilty.
Shorten put the HSU East Branch into Administration to allow the administrators (and not Jackson) the option of preferring charges against Thomson. Of course, if Shorten gets the administrators he wants (and he most likely will) there will be no preferring of charges. Gillard remains safe.
The Union has done nothing (zilch) to recoup misappropriated Union funds because all Union officials were culpable except for the whistleblower, Kathy Jackson, who has partaken of some largesse herself.
There has been a relentless campaign against Jackson by Shorten and others to intimidate and discredit her. She has suffered death threats and even a shovel thrown on her verandah. Normal Union tactics.
Shorten’s bleating about his disgust of the Union’s activities is disingenuous. His shifty move to sequestrate the HSU East Branch was solely to shore up Gillard’s tenure in Office… and nothing more.
That’s why there has not been one single charge laid against Thomson.
The average punter cannot be expected to see through all of the putrid garbage that is the affiliation between the ALP and Unions. If Thomson’s follies had been committed within an incorporated Company he would have been in gaol years ago.
The current Union-controlled Government under Gillard emits an intolerable stench that wafts across the entire Australian landscape.
Any new government must immediately enact legislation that never allows this to be repeated. It is an Aussie disgrace media ignore
Thanks Ken that explains why Labour Governments are not interested in making lawyers accountable.
you know the Party it is having and the reason any decent person with any moral fibre is no there… because the one thing missing from LABOR is U……..
Only trouble is it is NOT FUNNY this party.. in any way shape of form of corruption and slime it oozes
Ken Taylor, well done. Your article is doing the rounds at a hundred miles an hour.
You are a true believer in your convicitions. How do I know, you used your full name.
After spending the day reading information that has become available by now knowing where to look, I understand why the SMH did nothing. Thank goodness for the Cairns Post and the man from the north. Shane your doing a dam good job also.
Didn’t Hedley Thomas do an article in The Weekend Australian on Gillard’s part in the rip off?