Follow up from the West
Monday, 29 October 2012
I have today spoken with Minister Murray Cowper's office in Western Australia. He is the Minister for Training and Workforce Development and my letter to Premier Barnett was referred to Minister Cowper for action.
I am told that Minister Cowper's staff have concluded an enquiry into the matters I raised in my letter - then again I was told that the week before last. We had been promised a letter last week in answer to my letter, I'm told today that we'll get something in writing in the next couple of days.
I am not optimistic about the prospects for further investigation. I can't imagine how the status quo can prevail, as you'll see in the attached letter below.
FYI here is the original note to Premier Barnett (I know I improperly referred to the Project as the Dawesvill Cutting, it's the Cut!).
Dear Premier,In 1991 Thiess Contractors was awarded a contract to build the Dawesville Cutting. At the time the AWU and many construction companies were represented on the board of the Western Australian Government's statutory authority the Building and Construction Industry Training Fund.
In 1996 the Western Australian Police fraud squad received a complaint from the AWU regarding the apparent embezzlement of some hundreds of thousands of dollars from the AWU by Bruce Wilson a former union official.
The Fraud Squad determined that in the matter reported to it, the proper complainant was Thiess. Thiess then advised police that it did not believe it had been defrauded and thus it would not furnish a complaint or statement of loss to the police. The matter was closed with police advising that no offence had been detected.
Premier I am concerned that in its Annual Reports of FY ending 1993 and 1994 to its shareholder or responsible minister, the BCITF reported a manifestly false position regarding the acquittal or disposition of the $516,000 it collected under the "BCITF and Levy Collection Act 1990" and which it then advanced to Thiess for "workplace reform" and training.
The truth is the money that was earmarked for "workplace reform" under an MOU between Thiess and the AWU actually went to the union slush fund set up by Julia Gillard. It went out of the slush fund in cash and to buy a house in Melbourne.
I have attached some documents that you might find useful.
Perhaps you might let me know if you are happy for the status quo to endure - or if you intend to investigate this matter further I'd be obliged if you'd allow me to tell my readers.
Michael Smith
http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2012/08/the-awu-scandal-fun-with-other-peoples-money.html
http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2012/08/the-wa-associations-incorporation-act.html
Michael, You sound a bit as though you do not have much hope.
Look, you are doing what you can, try anything, you are doing your very best, if this minister does not give us an answer, which we expect, another door will open and we then should all let this guy know what we think of him. I am so sick to death of the people in power not doing what we want them to do, after all we are paying their salaries, which enables them to live in luxury for the rest of their lives, we have to expect the best, that is what we pay for and expect. Please do not lose heart, we are all behind you. Stay safe and take care.
Posted by: Liz of Vic | Monday, 29 October 2012 at 08:41 PM
I agree Liz...when this all comes out...will be interesting to publish names of those who failed in their duty to the Australian public...
Posted by: kaylene | Monday, 29 October 2012 at 09:17 PM
With every little bit of exposure , it appears to be becoming more evident , that many , many people may be on the chopping block if the truth comes out.
The dodging , and weaving everywhere this goes is pretty amazing .
As can be seen with Gillard's replies today in the house.
Perhaps , Michael, (though I too was becoming a tad sceptical), if persistence continues, you may well be on a winner here.
I don't have any legal expertise, so I just go on what I read, and the gut feeling on what I see as these pathetic morons keep dishing out their endless diatribe of lies.
Everybody knows these people are crooks , and I'm sure they know that everybody knows.And when they go down , they'll probably be kicking and screaming , professing their innocence.But eventually they will go down .One day , the Australian people will have had enough, and they might actually stand up to support you .
Even the worst of the worst among these crooks will eventually realize, that by what they are doing , they wil eventually bring down their own demise.Once they've taken everything they can , and the people are suffering like hell, they'll be kicked into the gutter from whence they came.
Hopefully it won't become that dramatic , but if it does , I hope to be on the front line watching .
Stick with it Michael, we all have days when the situation seems hopeless. But if we all chuck it in , they win.So we just heve tp persist , and each do our part , no matter how minor it may seem.
Hope that makes sense.
Posted by: barry | Monday, 29 October 2012 at 09:33 PM