It must be tough being Kathy Jackson.
At least that’s what she would like us all too think.
Appearing before Melbourne Federal Court on Monday via a video link from Sydney for a preliminary hearing before her trial begins next week, Kathy’s lawyer was keen to tell of a conspiracy amongst unions and even Bill Shorten, who were “out to get” his client. Also attempted was another shot at having the entire case against her dismissed. However that attempt failed and the $1.4 Million civil case against her will go forward assuming no further attempts are made by Jackson’s legal representation to further delay the inevitable.
While Jackson tries to convince all and sundry of a conspiracy against her led by the unions who she appears to think control the courts and legal process, it is already clear that she is not receiving harsh treatment, she is in fact being handled with kid gloves, and already receiving special treatment.
For example Jackson’s desire to appear by video-link during the trial rather than head for Melbourne. Some may remember that this was also what Craig Thomson sought to do during his civil trial however the court rejected his bids and so he headed off to Victoria for the trial. Although it is as yet unclear as to whether Jackson will be forced to go to Melbourne to face court, we know that on Monday she was granted permission to appear via video-link. That is more than Thomson was granted.
An Anti-Kathy conspiracy indeed.
As Craig Thomson tries to figure out how he can pay his mortgage without upsetting Fairfax, Michael Williamson languishes in a jail cell, Peter Mylan picks up the pieces after being driven almost to bankruptcy, and while Gerard Hayes hopes everyone will forget how he played both sides, Kathy Jackson must be finding things hard.
It must be tough for poor Kathy sitting in her seaside multi-million dollar mansion, or perhaps by the pool, listening to the sounds of the ocean and seagulls and trying to think up ways to shift the assets out of her name so that those pesky lowly paid union members can’t retrieve any of the members funds she is alleged to have misappropriated.
I sat by the ocean… Kathy doing it tough
Image – Australian Financial Review
While Jackson’s lawyers point fingers of blame regarding destroyed documents, Kathy must be touching wood that people forget the bags of shredded documentation that her faction left in the union offices, and hoping her old mate Ruth Kershaw is back in Paris again so nobody can ask her any questions about documents and shredders.
Meanwhile Jackson’s partner Michael Lawler continues to drag Fair Work Commissions reputation through the mud. The Australian has continued to highlight the massive conflict of interest in his involvement in Kathy Jackson’s union and legal affairs whilst squeezing a whopping estimated $430K salary out of the taxpayers for his Tony Abbott appointed role as VP of Fair Work.
I was amused to note in one of the recent articles it talks of some of these conflicts being raised by a hostile blogger, and others being published in an online newspaper. Call it a hunch but I think the Aus may be referring to the same person in both of these instances. If a hostile blogger broke the news around a year ago and the Australian has just climbed on board now it would sound more like it is a hostile main-stream media following along miles behind an informed blogger and online newspaper.
Next weeks Federal Court appearance will be interesting whether she appears in person, in a video-link, or via hologram.
However this is all foreplay in the lead up to the criminal trial that appears more likely every day.
That one will be a showstopper.
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You have pinpointed the basic problem of inequality in Australian society and the injustice that logically follows it. Between Bob Ellis’s daily account of what is irrational and wrong in Australia today, and your forensic scrutiny of the corruption of the privileged crooks Jackson and Lawler, we are getting graphic details of how truly Antipodean our culture is – both geographically and morally. A society that taxes the poor to subsidise the rich, and whose values are dictated by a criminal media mogul is in a very bad way.The contrast between the treatment of Kathy Jackson and Craig Thomson is symptomatic of a very deep ethical bankruptcy in our formerly impressive institutions of governance.
Thanks for your update Wixxy and with The Australian being an active reporter on Jacksonville shows to this reader that her LNP and HR Nichols Society protection has been abandoned,she is thrown to the wolves as predicted long ago
The pursuit of Craig Thomson and manner of conduct by the LNP set requires an RC along with Ashbygate so lets hope Australia wakes from this Abbott nightmare and gives Murdoch the flick
Who could that hostile informed blogger be, and what online newspaper?
You do a great job Peter, let’s hope the showstopper does happen.
Great to see that the justice system is paving the way for some fairness… Kathy’s attack on Bill !!!Well that could be construed to be going the complete opposite direction ,Keeping in mind her partners alliance with our PM whom would have much more to gain from her accusations than anybody..(taking one for her team on the way down perhaps) I am still wondering why her partner would want to buy her house when he can stay there for free???
Thanks Wixxy…but I’m not holding my breath waiting for this deceitful and corrupt person to get a “fair” trial. I suspect the trial will be an orchestrated whitewash of all Jackson’s duplicities and corrupt behaviour. I wonder how many magistrates shared a “charity shag” with her…or have the promise of one?
good onya peter , for at least trying to keep the bastards honest
If Michael Williamson got 7.5yrs with 5yrs non-parole for $800,000, Kathy’s looking at a long stint wearing bottle green!
@Owen
I doubt very much her partner is buying her house, unless I am completely mistaken she is transfering it to him at little or no cost (other than stamp duty etc). The aim is to have it out of her name incase she loses the court case and has to make restitution for the money she has stolen. This way the house will not be in her name and she can declare bankrupsy and not have to pay much at all. Look at all the other crooks who have done this in the past. Alan Bond comes to mind…..
Breaking news from The Australian:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/industrial-relations/kathy-jackson-has-no-assets-for-hsu-to-freeze/story-fn59noo3-1227413326558
Nowun suggests that Kathy Jackson might simply be attempting to transfer her property into Michael Lawler’s name at little or no cost. Nowun makes an important observation here. And Duchy refers us to the latest article in The Australian in which Lawler complains about the burden of paying Jackson’s legal costs. Plus, it appears from earlier media reports that Jackson and Lawler are living in dementia sufferer and Sydney QC David Rofe’s adjacent property supposedly paying market rent.
For me, this raises an obvious question. If meeting Jackson’s legal costs are such an issue and such a burden, why has Jackson not attempted to sell her home on the open market? Why merely transfer her home to Lawler? Of course, one answer might be that the burden of legal costs argument is a red herring. It could be the real intent here is to stop the HSU attempt to freeze Jackson’s assets. It is a real pity that the HSU appears to have waited until the last moment to apply for a freeze on Jackson’s assets. The Union should have acted six months ago. But I suppose it’s a case of better late than never.
Thankfully, however, there are signs that Justice Richard Tracey is awake to what might be going on and will not allow Jackson to dictate or frustrate the legal process. His Honour would want to give Jackson every leeway in terms of legal process. If he does not do so, you can bet your last dollar that Jackson and Lawler would be on to this in a flash, arguing that Jackson is not receiving a fair trial. Of course, the risk that Justice Tracey runs is that as he methodically closes off Jackson’s legal avenues of “escape”, Jackson might decide to curl up into a foetal position and have herself readmitted to a psychiatric facility. What would happen then will be anyone’s guess.
Hopefully, my faith in Justice Tracey and the HSU legal team is not misplaced.
Apparently Mr Lawler is feeling financial stress. I have a few financial questions:
How can a man earning 430K, and not turning up for work 8 months in the last 12, cry poor?
What evidence is there that she has tried to sell her assets on the open market, rather than transfer them to her partner?
Is this why they bought a house next door under the name of a demented man, so that they could off load the house and then have somewhere to live?
Was writing her into Rofe’s will for 3M an attempt to gain money by deception?
How did she pay for her sojourn in a private mental health facility?
Why if she was in the throes of a legal case was she spotted having a pedicure?
Was it because she had not been outed at this stage for trying to squeeze money from Rofe, so was feeling pretty relaxed about it all?
Why did she use Rofe’s credit card to buy a laptop early this year, and how did she come by the credit card number? Has she returned it?
If she’s so innocent why didn’t she roll her sleeves up and settle this matter earlier instead of delay/delay/delay??
And finally…..how much longer can FWC put up with this non sense?
@Nowun
I thought there was something in the bankruptcy act which allows the state to go after assets if it is deemed that people have divested of their assets to avoid losing them especially in circumstances where court action may be pending. Any legal eagles?
Transfer won`t stick if HSU win and they`ll have caveats which aren`t talked about publicly
So her property will be seized in the event of her loss and time frame to pay
Meanwhile the öther”or interested party will have a caveat over the property to ward off any purchaser as there`ll be a lien over it legally {DEFINITION of ‘Lien’ The legal right of a creditor to sell the collateral property of a debtor who fails to meet obligations]
If you lose a civil case the judge will give a time to pay the full amount won by the plaintiff.
The loser can appeal of course either way
A caveat is a form of statutory injunction provided for under the Real Property Act 1900. When a Caveat (form 08X) is lodged at LPI, it effectively prevents the registration of any dealing (except for some statutory exceptions and any specifically permitted dealings) until the:
http://www.lpi.nsw.gov.au/about_lpi/faqs/land_title/whats_a_caveat
I was very heartened to read your comment, Bighead. Hopefully you have all bases covered. 🙂
Kathy Jackson, former Health Services Union national secretary, declares bankruptcy ABC news