The Royal Commission published the submissions by its head lawyer Jeremy Stoljar on Friday and it is very clear that the AWU under the leadership of Bill Shorten was up to its neck in fraud and theft. (See links below). While Bill Shorten might have dodged recommendations for criminal charges at this stage his 2IC during his time at the AWU, Cesar Melham, is a lot more likely to face criminal charges.
Yet some in the mainstream media have jumped on it and implied Bill Shorten has in effect been cleared. They mustn’t have been watching when Bill Shorten was perjuring himself in the witness stand when he gave evidence. Nor could they have been watching when Shorten has given interviews on the subject of his corrupt conduct at the AWU when his body language is clearly that of a guilty man.
There is the court of law and then there is the court of public opinion which for a politician is just as important because thier whole career is determined on how well they do in the court of public opinion. And Bill Shorten has failed badly in the court of public opinion and a substantial reason for that is the good work of the Trade Union Royal Commission.
If doesn’t matter how much spin any Labor loving journalist puts on the Royal Commission and Bill Shorten they cannot save him. All they are doing is damaging their own reputation and the reputation of the media company that employs them because the public aren’t stupid and can make up their own minds based on the facts.
At the Royal Commission we’ve heard everything from Bill Shorten putting the heat on an employer to pay for his campaign staff to Shorten organising bribes worth $100,000’s. And who can forget Shorten’s role in ripping off some of the lowest paid workers in the country at Cleanevent. Nothing anyone says now will change what the public already know about Shorten’s past and what the public thinks of his dodgy conduct.
Below are the submissions by counsel assisting the Royal Commission Jeremy Stoljar and the brief statement they published on Friday.
The Royal Commission statement and submissions – Friday 6/11/15
In very brief overview, counsel assisting have submitted that the Commissioner should find that a number of officials of the AWU and the AWU itself may have engaged in criminal conduct in relation to the falsification of invoices and the taking of commissions.
It is further submitted that a number of persons employed by major employers and employers themselves may have engaged in similar criminal conduct, by receiving and paying bogus invoices and paying commissions (see e.g. Chapter 3 – Thiess John Holland, paragraph 213; Chapter 5 – ACI, paragraph 118; Chapter 6 – Chiquita Mushrooms paragraph 85; Chapter 8 – Winslow Constructors, paragraph 44).
Counsel assisting have submitted further that a number of officials of the AWU may have engaged in conduct in conflict of interest by causing the union to enter into lucrative side deals that were not disclosed to the members.
There is no submission that Mr Bill Shorten may have engaged in any criminal or unlawful conduct.
Chapter 1 is an introductory chapter which summarises many of the main points. There are 10 Chapters in total.
Since these are submissions, they do not contain any recommendations. Any recommendations will be made by the Commissioner in his Report. That will only occur after the Commissioner has received submissions from all parties and considered all competing points of view. (Click on the below links for each chapter)
Chapter One – Introduction (Click here to read)
Chapter Two – Cleanevent (Click here to read)
Chapter Three – Thiess John Holland (Click here to read)
Chapter Four – Paid Education (Click here to read)
Chapter Five – ACI-O-I (Click here to read)
Chapter Six – Chiquita Mushrooms (Click here to read)
Chapter Seven – Unibuilt (Click here to read)
Chapter Eight – Winslow Constructions (Click here to read)
Chapter Nine – Misc Membership Issues (Click here to read)
Chapter Ten – Downer EDI (Click here to read)
Bill Shorten and Cesar Melham
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If people are going to wait for all the criminals to be brought to justice and go to jail then they will be waiting forever and whingeing about it won’t change it. But on this website and many others people are being brought to justice now in the court of public opinion and that is a major reason why Bill Shorten’s career is over as he has been outed too many times for the public to buy his lies anymore.
Whether or not there is enough evidence to charge Bill Shorten for the corruption at the AWU is one thing but he has to take responsibility for it and is not fit to be Prime Minister.
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