The answer to that question is a resounding “YES”!!
As you are aware from my last post my now local MP has been arrested in relation to fraud. He is facing 154 charges relating to fraud and deceit that he perpetrated against the Health Services Union. Juliar Gillard, the worst Prime Minister ever, in Australia, has continued to offer her support for Craig Thomson. When the issue of what Thomson was alleged to have done was brought up, Gillard constantly stated that she has confidence in him – until he became inconvenient to her cause.
This expression of confidence in this fraudster should have been enough to question the woman’s sound judgement. However, that expression of confidence goes to the very heart of her own scandal.
I think I have mentioned some of the scandal details in the past. There are a few strands to the scandal and all of those strands are relevant because it goes to the very heart of the reason that the Crime Minister should be removed and be on her way to jail.
Let’s start with the fact that Juliar Gillard refused to tell the truth about her involvement in what was called the “Socialist Forum”. This group of individuals were former members of the Communist Party. Their goals are exactly the same as the Communist Party. Gillard deflected her own role as the Public Officer as being “just a typist”. Yet she co-authored several papers, including one regarding why the Socialist Forum should incorporate and become an incorporated Association. This is not a very good start … but let’s keep going.
The next issue is her predeliction for married men with children. Is it any wonder that she has ranted and screamed at Tony Abbott, when she cannot get into his pants and declare some kind of a victory. The issue here is a union official by the name of Bruce Wilson. One might to liken him to William Ayers of the Weather Underground fame, because if you look into his background, there are some activities that ought to be considered as domestic terrorism. The affair with Bruce Wilson probably began somewhere around 1990-1991. At the time that the affair began Juliar Gillard was working for Slater and Gordon, but I am not sure if she was a partner by that time.
Almost immediately one can see what is wrong with that picture. Here you have a woman who was a partner of a major law firm having an affair with the agent of her client. From the point of view of professional ethics this affair should have been a no-no. It was ethically and morally unsound to have been conducting this affair.
This brings me to the next issue which concerns the consequences of such unethical behaviour. Wilson was on the board of a thing called the BCITF in West Australia. Funds were becoming available for training, since this was at the height of th push for more training on the job. As a member of that board, Wilson was privy to the fact that the grants were to be made available. At some point he approached the construction company Thiess who was in the process of bidding for the Dawes Cut project (I may have that name wrong), and he made an agreement or memorandum of understanding relating to “training” of the construction workers. It was all a sham. He then resigned from the board so that he had nothing to do with the approval of the funds. It was at this point that Wilson with the aid of Ralph Blewitt attempted to form an association called the Australian Workers Union – Workplace Reform Association Inc. He was attempting to get this bogus association incorporated but it was knocked back by the WA Commissioner for Corporate Affairs.
After the first attempt failed, Wilson with Blewitt flew to Melbourne to consult with Gillard. With the aid of another member of the Slater and Gordon staff, Gillard set about drafting the rules of the association. The application form has her handwriting on it, even though it has Ralph Blewitt’s signature. Someone drafted an advertisement notice that had to appear in the paper for the purpose of intent to register the association. This second attempt was also knocked back, and then Gillard sent a letter to the Commissioner to convince him that the Association was legitimate. As you can see, Gillard did more than just providing advice which is her claim on the matter. She knew the purpose of the AWU-WRA and she deliberately deceived the Commissioner of Corporate Affairs in West Australia.
Wilson and Blewitt did not waste time, and one of them drew up invoices that were sent monthly to Theiss. The invoices were worth substantial amounts of money, and they were paid without anyone blinking over them. The AWU was not aware of this bogus association. In fact it was not even aware of the bank account operating under that name until February 1996.
One can draw certain conclusions about what was going on here, and the fraud itself is quite obvious. Thiess could not pay the invoices unless the entity was incorporated. Theiss claimed it was paying money to the AWU per the memorandum of understanding. The vehicle for approval was the AWU-WRA Inc. If this “Association” was not incorporated then Thiess would not pay.
It did not take long before this Association was rolling in money. The next part of this story is the purchase of the Kerr St Fitzroy property. Wilson had been moved to Melbourne. He left his wife and children in West Australia. He purchased a property in Fitzroy using money from the bogus association. Gillard was with Wilson when he was the successful bidder at auction. The document signed that day stated that he was purchased per power of attorney for Ralph Blewitt…. except that no power of attorney existed on that day….
There was no power of attorney, so what did Wilson and Gillard do? Gillard drafted a very badly worded power of attorney, and Wilson flew to Perth. Wilson was there for a meeting, but he came to see Blewitt and told him to sign the document. There were no other witnesses present when this signing took place, yet Juliar Gillard’s signature was on this document that had been backdated to 4 February. There is no doubt that the document was at the very least fraudulent.
To add to the stench of this whole affair, Gillard did not open any file relating to the creation of the AWU-WRA, neither did she keep a proper file in regard to the Kerr St. property.
In recent months Gillard has attempted to deflect her responsibility over the whole matter, but she is caught between a rock and a hard place because she continues to lie. The whole thing began to unravel in July 1995 when Wilson was caught operating another bogus bank account in Melbourne. This was also worth a few hundred thousand dollars, and money have been sent to the AWU by some big construction companies. Once Wilson had been caught, Slater and Gordon began questioning Juliar Gillard about what she knew. She went on leave in August 1995 and when she was gone her office was checked. A personal file was discovered and it contained details about some of these matters. Gillard was questioned about these matters during her exit interview.
Gillard has been attempting to deflect from all of these details with her statements “I was young and naive”; “I did nothing wrong”; “I was acting under advice”; “Wilson and Blewitt were my clients, not the AWU”. None of her responses are in any way adequate.
Last October Ralph Blewitt returned to Australia from Malaysia where he is now living. During a conversation with Michael Smith, a former radio journalist, former police officer etc, and he was asked about the power of attorney, he stated that the document was backdated. He signed the document anyway, because Wilson was standing over him. It was on the basis of this information that Michael Smith made a formal complaint to the Victorian police. This time the police are doing a full investigation.
Considering the nature of the fraud and corruption within the AWU, as well as with the HSU and the Electrical Trades Union, there is a real need for a wide-ranging Royal Commission into the corruption within unions.
NOTE: I have not mentioned the fun and games in NSW. That might have to be the subject of another post because it is far more involved and there are a lot of stories all leading back to the same corrupt players.