Late yesterday afternoon the Trade Union Royal Commission dropped a bombshell.

Counsel Assisting Jeremy Stoljar yesterday made his submissions which can be seen in full via this link, and while this does not mean the Commissioner will follow suit it certainly gives a strong indication of where things are headed.

I have not had the time to plough through all of the documentation as there is a mountain of it, however there are a few things to note.

Firstly, Julia Gillard has nothing to answer for, despite all of the antics and smear, Gillard has come out of this unscathed.

For Kathy Jackson though, things are not looking so flash.

Just as I have been saying for many years now, but better late then never I guess.

There will be more to come I’m sure as I work my way through the documentation but here is how Stoljar surmised the unions affairs during Jacksons time as Secretary.

 

The matters set out above raise serious governance issues at the Victoria No 3 Branch,

during the period Ms Jackson was Secretary.

It is difficult to imagine a more inappropriate series of arrangements. On Ms Jackson’s

own evidence, significant sums of members’ money were kept in a kitty and handed out

at her discretion. There were insufficient checks and records concerning other

movements of money, including the use of credit cards.

The picture that emerges is of a union during the period 2000 – 2012 characterised by

lax governance; frequent breaches of union rules and procedures of transparency and

accountability; and ‘smear’ and ‘dirt’ campaigns, during which critical records were

destroyed or tampered with, and reputations trashed. This is no model for a modern or

effective union.

 

For many of the allegations against Jackson there were no findings made as the matters are still part of the $1.4 Million matter before Federal Court, and it was deemed inappropriate to comment on the matters due to that.

However on the Peter Mac settlement there are elements of the matter not before Federal Court such as the $250K that was paid to the HSU from the Cancer Research Facility and Hospital.

Jackson admitted during the Royal Commission to grossly inflating the union’s costs in order to have them total $250K. One example of this was her legal costs were inflated from $1,122 to $65,740 according to Jacksons own testimony.

Some may call that a rort, others a hefty mark-up. Jeremy Stoljar in his submission refers to it as

“Obtaining property or a financial advantage by deception”

Stoljar then goes on to say

“Ms Jackson falsely represented to Peter Mac that the HSU had incurred, or would incur,

costs that she knew it had not, and would not, incur. That false representation

constitutes the relevant deception.”

This deception you may remember was designed as a payment that would ensure none of the workers would receive the roughly $3 Million in entitlements they were owed.

Another thing you may remember is that at one stage Jackson tried to say that any money paid to the workers would have taken money away from cancer research. This was her justification for ensuring that the workers she represented were ripped off while she reaped the reward.

By inflating the bills and wilfully deceiving Peter Mac Cancer Institute Kathy Jackson herself was taking quarter of a million dollars away from cancer research, effectively taking the cash not just from the workers, but also from those suffering from cancer. You don’t get much lower than that in my view.

Stoljar concluded with this;

“It is submitted that there is sufficient evidence to warrant Ms Jackson being referred to the Victorian Director of Public Prosecutions so that the Director can consider whether to prosecute her for possible contraventions of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic).”

We will see how soon the Victorian Crime squad act now that the Commission is pointing the finger at Jackson.

Or maybe Abbott should announce another taskforce? I won’t hold my breath on that…

There will be more to come, stay tuned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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