This morning in a Melbourne court room a strange thing happened.
Someone who has spent a long time claiming to have nothing to do with anything concerning the Health Services Union or the allegations of corruption that have surrounded the union, appeared to contradict his own claims.
The name of this person is Michael Lawler, and readers of my investigation into the HSU saga would be familiar with who he is.
For those who aren’t, Lawler is the Vice President of Fair Work Commission (FWC), formerly FWA. The same FWA that investigated the Health Services Union and led to the allegations against Craig Thomson. A recent article that gives a breif outline of Lawlers involvement can be found via this link.
Lawler was appointed by Tony Abbott, who at the time was the Industrial Relations Minister under PM John Howard.
Michael Lawler is also the partner of Kathy Jackson, the self-proclaimed HSU whistleblower who now finds herself in the centre of a corruption scandal herself where the dollar figures exceed the allegations against those she brags to have blown the whistle on.
More on that will be in posts later.
Jackson whispering in Lawlers ear while Bolano’s girlfriend checks her phone
Michael Lawler in his role as Vice President of FWC is an Industrial Judge who is the equivalent of a High Court Judge.
This is a position that the taxpayers like us pay an enormous amount of money for, somewhere in the vicinity of $400K pa, to be firstly someone of integrity, and secondly independent.
It is the Fair Work Commissions responsibility to act in an independent manner, otherwise you may as well drop the word “Fair” from their title.
This morning in court Kathy Jackson was due to appear to give her defence against civil actions being taken by the National Office of the Health Services Union to retrieve funds.
Part of this action relates to the employment contract for Rob Elliott drawn up and signed by Kathy Jackson and Michael Williamson who now lives in a room with bars on the window for the next few years.
Kathy Jackson has as far failed to produce a defence and was not in court this morning.
In order to avoid being charged for contempt of court, Jackson attempted for the matter to be heard remotely.
Acting on her behalf, or seeking to act as Jacksons legal representation was Michael Lawler.
Mr Lawler, who claims nothing to do with HSU business was seeking to act as a lawyer for a HSU union official facing corruption allegations in an action against her by the HSU National Office.
Nothing to see here….
Kathy Jackson and Fair Work Commissions Michael Lawler – Happier times
The judge in the case was reportedly most irritated by this action by Jackson and Lawler having to explain that Lawler could not act on Jacksons behalf without being present in the court, something one would have hoped and assumed someone in Michael Lawler’s position would be fully aware of.
It is no wonder many assume these people think they are above and beyond the law.
Whatever damage Michael Lawler may wish to do to his own reputation by his continued defence of Kathy Jackson is his own concern.
However it is the public’s concern when the independence and integrity of the countries industrial relations watchdog and umpire is brought into question by the actions of one of Australia’s highest paid public servants.
Today the public have every right to feel concerned.
Our taxpayers dollars should not be spent on a public servant freelancing on the taxpayers dime as a lawyer for a union official facing civil action form her own union.
Michael Lawler’s position within Fair Work Commission just became untenable.
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I read somewhere that Lawler could hardly be heard on the phone link due to birds tweeting in the background. Another hard day at work for him at taxpayer expense I suppose:) ?
Is there any wonder that the general public believe that there are 2 laws in this country.One for the so called haves and then there are US.Good article again Peter keep up the good work,this woman as something to hide.
it seems that there is a network of these crooks, stemming from abbortt down, and they’re all very highly positioned, all ready to cut down anything to do with evidence against abbortt and co, even the high court, they’re called the establishment, the people that think they’re born to rule and own everything.
Yes, indeed, Peter. Michael Lawler’s position is untenable. As you have demonstrated in earlier Jacksonville articles, his improper behaviour goes back some years. However, his position in Fair Work Australia is now so untenable that even the mainstream media will not be able to ignore it. (Of course the intellectually and ethically challenged shock jocks will continue to ignore facts.)
This Royal Commission is bringing to light evidence that suggests that what Craig Thomson said in his speech to Parliament in May 2012 contains far more truth than the mainstream credited it with having at the time. What they ridiculed then is looking seriously informative now. The important point about the media’s evaluation of it, is that the only journalist who recognised that it provided some real insight into the workings of the HSU was you. No one else bothered to investigate the possibility that what Thomson said might have been credible. The so-called heroics of Jackson and Bolano are looking different now.
Nevertheless, the politicians and journalists of the extreme right might know that they have been wrong, but they also know that they are powerful, and in this country right now, might beats right pretty often.
We look forward to the day when Kathy Jackson will be arrested and strip-searched.
Wow!! Why am I not the least bit surprised. This looks like the LNP have their fingers in the Unions proverbial pie also, While they are trying to drag down the Labor party, they in turn are slowly dragging down their own??
Abbott’s secret network in operation!…he’s a cunning bastard BUT,,, all be unravelled like a ball of twine!
I have just stumbled onto your site Wixxy. Plenty to read here.
At other sites there have been a number of comments in the past that any investigation into unions would catch LNP in the net. I wonder if funding will be removed from this royal commission.
The corruption by the Liberal Party on these issues is historically more significant and scandalous than previous historical events and the story needs to be told until someone actually listens. Keep up the great work Peter.