Help Crowd Fund The Jacksonville Book Here
With Tony Abbott and the Coalition in free-fall mode in the polls, the Trade Unions Royal Commission’s integrity in the toilet, and more details of dodgy dealings being done by Kathy Jackson and her partner Michael Lawler things must be glum for Tony Abbott, Eric Abetz, George Brandis and the Jacksonville crew.
Luckily they have a sure-fire way of tipping the balance back in their favour, a tried and true method that has worked for years. A tactic that is as simple as those who apply it, and a tactic that’s only beauty is in its simplicity.
That tactic is called the Thommo Bash.
It’s simple really, just mention Craig Thomson’s name in the same sentence as words like fraud, brothel, prostitute, hooker, and theft. However the most important word that would also be in that sentence is “alleged”, but you can be sure it would be the least emphasized word.
Other words that should be in that sentence but won’t make an appearance are words like innocent, disproved, cleared, and the two words “not guilty”.
They’re coming at me again?
As the week ends those on the Jacksonville bandwagon will once again have an opportunity to take the proverbial dump on Craig Thomson as he tries to rebuild his life.
Tomorrow the findings in the civil matter against Thomson are handed down and they are not likely to be favorable, some reasons for this are
- The case is against Fair Work Commission, where the Vice President is not only Tony Abbott appointed, but Kathy Jacksons partner.
- The allegations are based on the word of Kathy Jackson who has proven herself to be about as believable as an Abbott election promise.
- Thomson was unable to afford to provide a defense for himself and therefore was unable to fight the allegations in court.
The thing to remember in all of this is that Thomson has fought these charges twice in court during his criminal trial and been found not guilty.
Also worth noting is that the union money used for “campaign purposes” was part of a national anti-workchoices campaign being run by affiliated unions. Th bulk of this went into sponsorship of a Central Coast NRL team and game. This was not used for Craig Thomson’s election campaign at all as insinuated. One match was actually called the “HSU Your Choices At Work Cup”, not the “Vote Thomson Cup” that the spin would indicate.
We all missed the part where this campaign said “Vote Thommo”
I wonder how….
Perhaps this is why it is Fair Work that Thomson is fighting in court, the union long ago walked away from the matter. However Fair Work have some face to save after their questionable investigation was slammed in an independent report by KPMG.
In what has been a truly ugly display of how justice works in this country, we have seen someone dragged through the courts for years and paraded before the press for even longer. That someone has been brought to the point of bankruptcy and emotional breakdown with hardly a thought spared for his family, or hardly anyone bothering to take a good look at his accusers.
The fact that this someone happened to be a Federal Member Of Parliament should scare the utter crap out of everyone, particularly when you consider he was found not guilty of virtually everything he was charged with. If this much can be inflicted on a Member of Parliament, what can they do to you?
I expect that tomorrows findings will finally see some findings against Thomson, however it should be remembered that these are charges that for purely financial reasons he has not defended. Despite evidence of mental health issues from medical practitioners Thomson had ploughed on until finally bled dry of funds.
While I’m sure tomorrow will be a day of celebration within the Coalition, I’m equally sure it should be a sad day for everybody that believes in justice and a fair legal system. A day that proves once and for all that your innocence is dependent on your bank balance.
We now witness the perverse position of Thomson being found not guilty by criminal court, yet about to be slugged in a civil case due to his virtual bankruptcy. The fact that this occurs while the woman who’s accusations put him before court attempts to transfer her multi-million dollar property into her Tony Abbott appointed partners name to avoid paying back $1.4 Million in fraudulently acquired funds should be an embarrassment all those in the legal profession.
Then again, maybe my predictions are wrong and the media will do the right thing and let this slide, just like they let the truth about Jackson slide for all those years. Maybe the media will wake up and recognise when they are being manipulated and played like a fiddle.
I guess tomorrow we’ll see.
Despite the fact that all the allegations Thomson made against his accusers in his speech in the Federal Parliament in 2012 have now been shown to be true facts, no one in the mainstream media has seen fit to mention it. The Sydney Morning Herald, his first accuser, has been amazingly silent on this, despite its exultant tone in supporting Kathy Jackson back in 2009 and taking all of her allegations to be absolutely true, even presenting a doctored credit card statement with Thomson’s name incorrectly spelled as “evidence”.
Article 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights tells us that all of us are equal before the law. What a joke that is in Tony Abbott’s Australia.
Congratulations, Peter, on an other in your magnificent “Jacksonville ” series. Without you and all who write for Independent Australia we would have been left completely in the dark on this matter.
In December 2014, Craig Thomson was CONVICTED of 13 charges of theft under the Victorian Crimes Act 1958. He was initially given a jail sentence for the conviction, but the sentence was overturned in favour of a $25,000 fine. This being the case, Wixxy, how do the facts just mentioned square with your statement cited below:
“It’s simple really, just mention Craig Thomson’s name in the same sentence as words like fraud, brothel, prostitute, hooker, and theft. However the most important word that would also be in that sentence is “alleged”, but you can be sure it would be the least emphasized word.
Other words that should be in that sentence but won’t make an appearance are words like innocent, disproved, cleared, and the two words “not guilty”.”
Are you perhaps suggesting that Craig Thomson was not, in fact, convicted of any crime? Or are you suggesting that maybe Craig Thomson was wrongfully convicted? Or is it simply the case that you feel Thomson’s offending is a mere bagatelle compared to Kathy Jackson’s offending, and therefore should be overlooked or ignored? If the latter, I wonder whether you are making a distinction between “good crooks” and “bad crooks”? To me, a crook is a crook, irrespective of the quantum misappropriated or misused.
I have not said that he was found not guilty of everything, I say he was found not guilty of nearly everything.
The final amount was less than $5,000 and he had run out of money to fight those minor charges. He was however found not guilty of ell charges related to prostitutes and brothels.
Thomson has more than paid the price for his matter that could have been resolved in small claims court.
I’ll give you this, Peter – whatever differences of opinion might exist between you and your readers, you have the courage (and decency) to publish even opposing views. 🙂
But I still don’t hold Craig Thomson in the same high regard that you do. Craig’s theft charges could not have been heard in a small claims court as they were not civil matters. They were, instead, breaches of the Crimes Act, that is to say, they were criminal matters. Criminal matters can only be heard in a properly constituted Court.
I liken Thomson’s and Jackson’s situation to that of two large tumblers of water – one with two grams of powdered chicken manure stirred in, the other with two heaped tablespoons of powdered chicken manure mixed in. I would not drink from either tumbler as both contain contaminated water. Somehow, I don’t think I would be alone in refusing to drink. Also, if a person cannot be trusted in little things, how can he/she be trusted in big things? Kind regards to you.
We have just witnessed the flouting of law by the Royal Commission into Trade Unions, with the coaching of Kathy Jackson about what she should be prepared to say. Also the judgment by the Royal Commissioner that there is no reason why he should step down. His explanation was not complex legally, as alleged by the compliant media, but legal gobbledegook. The idea of a judge judging his own judgment and claiming it to be objective is absolute nonsense. It has no legal or scientific validity whatsoever.
Any one who trusts the practice of law and the court system in this country should read Evan Whitton’s fully documented book, “Our Corrupt Legal System”. I recommend it to everyone.
Thanks JB
You are right re the small claims court, it is in the civil case now I got that confused…
I’m reasonably sure he would have got off on an appeal however he could not afford it, it appeared that the judge didn’t want to leave him with anything substantial but after so much taxpayer money was spent needed to throw the police some sort of bone so they didn’t look too incompetent and under political control
That was my take anyway
So where are all these pro bono legals that believe in justice or is it as you say Peter its depends on ya dollars sad state of affairs indeed
The FWA Investigator (Nassios) and Lawler “shared an office” you know!
Last night I watched the Chaser’s Media Circus return to TV. Julian Morrow made a deplorable joke about Craig Thomson hiring prostitutes, which enraged me, as Thomson was found innocent of that charge. Unfortunately the Chaser have a history of bashing Craig Thomson, and I can never forgive them for that. What is farcicfal about Media Circus is that they supposedly have a fact-checking segment on the show, and then they go along and perpetuate this anti-Thomson garbage.
I saw that too, I actually said to those I was watching it with as soon as they started talking about escorts, wait for the Thomson joke, lo and behold…
It is such a cheap shot, and given you can see it coming 10 miles away, not even funny
I expected better but was only setting myself up for disappointment
Sad day today for justice. Thomson is still being chased because of his supposed links with prostitutes – more serious than the chasers’ chasing though.