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The Jacksonville saga has been a hot bed of sex, drugs, corruption, extravagant lifestyles, political espionage and even an attempted coup, about the only thing it lacked was a corpse.
This week that changed.
At 11 30am on Wednesday morning police were called to the Wombara residence of Kathy Jackson and Michael Lawler to find the body of Shaun Fischer. It is unclear at the moment the time of death or the cause of death other than it was the result of a “medical episode”. Apparently a vaguer description was unavailable at the time.
Until the Coroner releases more information there can be only speculation as to the cause of death, although the police have stated that they are not treating the death as suspicious. This is not unusual, other non-suspicious deaths due to medical episodes, such as that of River Phoenix, have seen us have to wait for Coroners findings after toxicology results etc
The unfortunate Mr Fischer is alleged to be one of the reportedly many guests at the local luxury psychiatric facility that Jackson and Lawler have come to know on a very personal and intimate basis.
Neighbours claim to have heard a loud party at the residence the night prior to the police being called in regarding Mr Fischer.
Maybe this is all part of the apparent therapy that Michael Lawler has been allegedly offering to people at the psychiatric facility?
Lawler has suddenly started following the “teachings of Jesus Of Nazareth” and is now doing what he can to help those in need.
Hello, is that you Jesus?
Image – ABC
Yesterday the public saw evidence of this when Lawler finally decided that it was the taxpayer that was needy and resigned from his $430K taxpayer-funded position that he rarely bothered showing up to.
However I would question whether this decision is more about self-interests rather than an act of repentance after a quick chat with Jesus of Nazereth on the bat-phone.
Lawler’s resignation comes neatly sandwiched between two significant days. The day prior being the day a dead body was discovered at his house, and the day following being the day he was due to respond to parliament regarding the findings of an independent report into his behaviour in his role. I tend to think it was more related to the latter.
Lawler had sought more time to respond to these findings, who wouldn’t while the taxpayer was paying you approx. $1,190 a day to do nothing?
I wonder what was in that report that Lawler apparently thought he had no excuse for.
What is truly sad is that a man whom most would say deserves a golden shower rather than a golden handshake will no doubt be receiving a hefty pay-out care of the taxpayer.
When current Employment Minister, the appropriately named Michaela Cash made the announcement of Lawler’s resignation in Senate yesterday my first thought was “I wonder how much this will cost the taxpayer?”
Lawler has rarely shown up for work, yet he has continued to collect his full pay, and when asked to respond he has the hide to ask for more time whilst still collecting full pay.
Looking green around the gills on yet another sickie?
I wonder if the taxpayer will ever see the report they paid for into Lawler’s behaviour, or if we will ever know the details of the negotiations surrounding his resignation with Michaela Cash’s office. Cash is of course a factional ally of her predecessor Eric Abetz, someone who was reportedly very close to Jackson.
Many have speculated that it is only through Lawler’s relationship with the far-right faction of the Liberal Party that he has been able to stay in his high-profile position as Vice President of Fair Work Commission. Readers here have been calling for his resignation for years over his involvement in the HSU saga. The Australian have been calling for his resignation for his involvement in the financial affairs of David Rofe QC for the best part of a year. Tony Abbott when he was PM famously became embroiled in a slanging match when he tried to handball the responsibility for Lawler’s removal back to Fair Work. All of this however has not stopped 4 Corners from taking the credit for the resignation after the programmes brilliant but belated expose of the King and Queen of Jacksonville last year.
One thing that did sneak its way into the News Ltd reports yesterday was that Jackson and Lawler have apparently tied the knot. It is unclear whether Barnaby Joyce and George Brandis were there to join in the festivities like they were for Jackson and Lawler’s former housemate and failed PR man Michael Smith…
However news of the marriage makes me wonder if perhaps while the organised crime division of a joint Victorian and Federal Police look into Kathy Jackson’s behaviour, and while the Liberals lament their loss of an inside-man at Fair Work, if perhaps there is an application for a Greek passport being processed.
Mykonos anyone?
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When the news dropped yesterday, I just laughed – a long, slow satisfied laugh. Let the deconstruction of the Australian Right begin.
A story worthy of a nineteenth centuru satirist…
Yet another appalling example that “while all people are equal, some people are more equal than others” in the “Animal Farm” that Australia has become under this corrupt government. The spirit of George Orwell informs your excellent investigative work, Peter.
One thing that did sneak its way into the News Ltd reports yesterday was that Jackson and Lawler have apparently tied the knot.
well if you want to confirm that rumour Peter, the first two places to start …
… a quick FOI on nearby helicopter services should confirm whether or not a Coalition wedding took place in the vicinity.
OR
… maybe check for the right wing factional brokers listing a trip as official business on the wedding date.
because as we have come to understand, some people NEVER learn.
Brilliant Wixxy and “Apparently a vaguer description was unavailable at the time” floored me ROFLMAO
Long ago when I `made that meme of you being the “Real Whistleblower”in all this I also made one not long after with the words “Caveat Kathy” diagonally across it
My reasoning was that HSU prosecutors caveat all and any property owned by Jackson
I believe they now have to “caveat Lawler”
By dragging him into bankruptcy his sizeable pension would then go into paying off some of his wrongdoings
{ he would only be allowed $800 per week max and all rest go to discharge debt]
Why do I have this assumption I feel you ask? the answer is in the article you wrote above and the HSU will have to pursue further down this path
I’m wondering if this could be the beginning of the end of disgraceful Right Wing Nutters. All happening on the days of Revelation of Pell the Good Shepherd of Jesus of Nazareth & provider for RWNJs.
Re; the RC into RC church child abuse, what i’d like answered is Why the police did next to nothing when informed of these sins, smells like the government of the day had something to do with the police doing nothing, what else could prevent the police acting?. Wiki keep up the good work.
Best lead para ever. Great article. Will send money.
Brilliant Pete. You couldn’t make this stuff up
There is no mention of them tying the knot in the news report. Did you just make that up for giggles?
Michael Lawler was first appointed to what is now known as the Fair Work Commission in 2002. His most recent salary at the Commission was approximately $435,000 per annum. Lawler’s position at the Commission was “for life”, and he could only have been removed from the position by a vote of both Houses of Federal Parliament. Lawler is currently 55 years of age.
Lawler’s sudden resignation from the Commission is as intriguing as it is unexpected. Coming one day after the death of a house guest at his home, and one day before he was due to respond to the report into his conduct by the Hon Peter Heerey AM QC, the act of resignation is it itself a source of speculation. Did the Heery Report recommend Lawler’s removal by Parliament and therefore did Lawler jump before he was pushed?
Or did the police investigating the death of Lawler’s house guest find something at the house that was so incriminating, so embarrassing, that it would have made Lawler’s position at the Commission untenable? Given the bad publicity Lawler has attracted in recent years, an incriminating or embarrassing find in Lawler’s home might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Whatever the real reason for it, Lawler’s resignation from the Commission is, to put it mildly, remarkable. Indeed, some would argue that it is almost incomprehensible in view of Lawler’s previous public statements that he was “going nowhere” when asked about quitting his position at the Commission. What make’s Lawler’s resignation so startling can be summed up by a single word – PENSION.
Lawler enjoyed an extraordinarily generous pension entitlement at the Commission. On his salary, Lawler was entitled to an INDEXED pension of around $250,000 per annum. For LIFE. Paid for out of the public purse. However, there is a catch. Lawler’s entitlement to this generous pension is only automatic once he reaches 60 years of age. Resignation before 60 years of age means that the pension entitlement is no longer automatic. Instead, receipt of the pension will then be at the discretion of the Government, presumably the Finance Minister.
As stated above, Lawler is 55 years old. He resigned before reaching the age of 60, and so has given up his automatic entitlement to a generous publicly funded pension. But Lawler has, apparently and according to media reports, already applied for Ministerial discretion to be exercised and for his generous pension to be granted on the grounds of disability. The disability that, one imagines, prompted him to resign his position early.
It will be very interesting to see what the Turnbull Government does now. Will the Government approve a $250,000 per annum indexed pension to be paid to Lawler for life? In making its decision, will the Turnbull Government focus on Lawler’s (alleged) disability or will it focus on his (alleged) conduct while in office?
But the story does not end there. The matter of Lawler’s pension has significant implications for Lawler’s partner, the convicted fraudster and disgraced union leader, Kathy Jackson. If the Turnbull Government agrees to grant Lawler his generous pension, then Kathy Jackson (who was convicted of misappropriating $1.4 million from the Health Services Union) can look forward to a financially secure future for the rest of her life – regardless of whether Lawler is alive or dead. A lifetime of financial security for Kathy Jackson also paid for by Australian taxpayers. Something for Jackson to look forward to once her current period of personal bankruptcy is declared legally at an end.
In the event that Michael Lawler receives his generous pension but dies before his partner, Kathy Jackson, the pension will “revert” to his surviving spouse. In broad terms, if Lawler dies before his partner, Kathy Jackson will receive just over 60 percent of Lawler’s pension – indexed and for life. That is to say, Kathy Jackson would continue to receive a pension of approximately $150,000 per annum for her entire lifetime, indexed for inflation and, in all likelihood, tax free. Courtesy of the Australian taxpayer.
But all of this is going to hinge on what decision is now taken by the Turnbull Government. You can rest assured that Australian taxpayers (and other interested parties) will be watching events closely and with great interest!
The stench coming from Lawler and his new ‘bride’ Jackson along with those in the Tory Govt who have aided and abetted the evil pair, has reached such levels of filth, it should be ordered Abetz walk in front of either/both whenever in the vicinity of living beings, ringing a bell crying ‘beware, beware, unclean, unclean’!!!
If ever their was a case the FED’s should be all over like a rash, it is Lawler.. That the pair are still walking free, passports intact beggars belief
There not their 🙁
It says the home of Kathy Jackson and her husband in the News Ltd piece
Thanks wixxy curious how it has dropped pot of sight in the mainstream news so quickly. I want that google algorithm. Where’s my Rolex?
Do I feel sorry for him? Nope, nope, nope.
Good riddance to the piece of shit.
Hopefully him and his harpy defacto get to celebrate their honeymoon in Silverwater jail if they really did marry.
Most of us saps don’t get a pension or payout when we resign. How the hell can he?
If he does, it will be breathtaking arrogance on the part of Turdball’s government and a further example of corruption and cronyism in the Fiberal party.
I’m betting they don’t release the report or details into his resignation.
Don’t forget Tony said they were an open and transparent party………….
Too clever Mr Wicks, your wit and wonderful tongue in cheek sarcasm takes me back to those very early articles. As unfortunate as the passing is ……… only in Jacksonville.
Lawler, resigned VP of FairWork (self acclaimed) reborn modern day Christ…….where is the cross on which he will martyr himself.
Looking forward to the hair and beard reimage…….white robes, healing leppers in Rofes pond…….Wombarra, the new Bethlemhem. Real estate will soar.
Question: Does that make Jackson Mary Magdalene, she certainly can’t claim the role of the Virgin Mary?
I am sure Lawler’s resignation is due in some part to your dogged documenting of Jacksonville.
Well done Wixxy!
Thanks to those above who gave informed comment. Something about people enriching themselves at our expense gives rise to a lot of anger. I wish people carried the same levels of passion for more meaningful things in our society such as those who really do need support and help. Remember the disadvantaged, the homeless, the mentally ill, our First Nation brothers, those real tortured refugees who arrive on our doorstep and are immediately reprisoned on Pacific Island detention camps? Ultimately who cares about this couple when there are so many others who should be the beneficiary of our thoughts and work?
kyehos on March 5, 2016
This article is about the #Jacksonville saga and your comment is as out of place here as a Greens at an ALP National Conference
Pathos is not for thee Michael Lawler or Kathy Jackson
kyenos…noone cares about them as ‘individuals/couple’ however I for one care about the 1.3 million dollars she stole from her fellow workers and the hardship that will have caused. I care about the recovery of at least some of it. I also care that these two pay for the crimes they committed against fellow Australians and the millions of tax payers money used to finally bring her to account and the nose in the trough rorting of millions in sick leave by her co criminal Lawler (thanks to the tireless work of Wixxy who helped bring them down).
I care that all those millions could have been used in the areas you kyenos care about.
I also care that justice will be seen to be done and at least Jackson will be put away for a long time, with the lying rorting Lawler finally getting his comeuppance.
I also care about the groups you mentioned and have done my best to do something however small. For me there no degrees of caring, when it comes to righting wrongs
You’re apparent assumption that I do nothing about other issues such as those you mention is both offensive and false.
I suggest you stop making judgement calls on people you know very little about and cease wasting your energy on being critical of those who are trying to right wrongs and instead utilise that energy for something worthwhile.
Hi Peter, this is my first contribution to your very well researched blog, outside of my comments on my FB page I rarely speak publically these days. Politically you and I are not far apart Peter, we both advocate working class values in my humbled opinion.
. Your coverage in exposing the really dark facts behind the Jackson/Lawler fraud corruption has been invaluable, your work will ensure that the absolute facts are archived for future generations. Their ruthless exploitation of the vulnerable disgusted me. I cite their disgusting exploitation of dementia sufferer David Rofe as ONLY one example, a calculated and ruthless exploitation of an elderly guy that just happens to be a millionaire…..And we will never forget Jacksons theft of millions of dollars from the HSU, a union that represents some of the lowest paid workers in this country, the very people that empty our bed pans if for whatever reason we are confined to a lengthy hospital stay. It is these workers that I really do feel for.
Keep up the good work Peter,
Bob Kernohan
Thanks Bob, greatly appreciated
Would still love to know when they first met the previous PM as a couple?
Peter your work is commendable as usual and must be seen in the light of the totality of it which I find totally compelling. I still feel justice is still coming for Craig Thomson in that who will forget the likes of Abbott, Pyne, Brandis et al bad mouthing him daily alleging a $ 500,000 theft which turned out to be no more than around $ 5,000. Craig’s “theft” was predicated on the bank not giving an overdraft facility to the HSU but to me there seems to be a gap in this evidence as reported.
PS Jackson has not been convicted yet only found to have taken approx. $1.5 million from the HSU which currently only stand as a judgement debt. Apparently police are still investigating her. God help the if they are not!.
The Australian and the Daily Telegraph both described Michael Lawler as Kathy Jackson’s “husband,” but I believe this is misreporting. Three days ago, abc.net, reporting on his resignation from the FWC, simply described him as her “partner.” I would trust the ABC’s description over the Murdoch press.
Normally I’d agree, however the level of investigation by The Australian into Michael Lawler in particular has been excellent and has certainly surpassed that of any ABC reporting
They were certainly engaged a long time ago
I must apologise as my comment on the 5th. of March is at least misleading if not wrong. It appears Craig’s convictions for theft were based on his appropriating property or “choses in action/debts” owned by he HSU. As I understand the verdicts if there was no overdraft in favour of the HSU there was no HSU property to steal. If the HSU had no enforceable right to sue the Bank for the funds it had no property to steal. The evidence of an overdraft seems to be lacking here ie. if not HSU or Craig’s property it must be the Bank’s being the only other possible claimant for the same. If it were Craig’s there would be no offences. As he was charged with stealing the property of the HSU only he could not be convicted of stealing the Bank’s property.
There is another error as it should read “God help them if they are not!”.
we used to say ‘it can only happen in America’…but sadly, Australia has caught up with all this blatant corruption right before our very eyes! what disability does Lawler actually have that wasn’t apparent in the thousands of hours he spent advising, supporting and going to court with Jackson? he looked fine on TV! what a scam…..at the taxpayer’s expense! ‘It can only happen in the Liberal party”….