Julie Bishop won't back down, nor will Victoria Police, nor will I

Monday, 11 February 2013

There are very serious crimes disclosed in The AWU Scandal and I know that police are taking the investigation of those crimes seriously - as you'd expect.

Bruce Wilson controlled large amounts of cash during his operation of the AWU-WRA and the AWU Members Welfare Association bank accounts. He'd want to have very good explanations as to what he did with the money.

Wayne Hem says that he deposited $5,000 in cash into Julia Gillard's bank account, at a time when she was paying back 100% of the borrowed value/price for her home, plus a $20,000 further bank loan, plus an advance on her salary - and during which time her home was being extensively renovated. Hem says the cash was handed to him by Wilson. Within weeks of Gillard receiving that money, Wilson was informed that he would be charged internally within the union and referred to police over allegations of fraud involving the AWU Members Welfare Association and other accounts. Didn't it cross Ms Gillard's mind to disclose the receipt of $5,000 from Wilson just a couple of weeks earlier to the union?

Wilson was advised about the charges against him on 4 August, 1995. On 9 August, 1995, Ian Cambridge wrote to the Commonwealth Bank referring to the frozen accounts and the "dispute" between Bob Smith and Bruce Wilson, who as Cambridge recorded at the time were represented by Maurice Blackburn and Slater and Gordon respectively. According to Bruce Wilson, Ms Gillard continued to represent him legally up until the August 17 meeting at the Commonwealth Bank when about $160,000 in bank cheques were made out to construction companies, returning money that Wilson had received.

Here's the letter from Cambridge to the bank recording Maurice Blackburn and Slater and Gordon as the respective law firms.

So, a deposit from the boyfriend of $5,000 cash, just weeks before he is advised in writing that he is being investigated for fraud, Ms Gillard continues to represent him legally, but does not advise anyone about the $5,000 cash deposited into her own account from him.

No, I'm with Julie Bishop on this.

Bishop vows no let-up in pursuit of Gillard and AWU

BY:MILANDA ROUT
From:The Australian
February 11, 2013 12:00AM

DEPUTY Liberal Leader Julie Bishop has vowed she will not back down in pursing Julia Gillard over the Australian Workers Union scandal.

Ms Bishop said she "won't flinch" from asking questions in parliament, given a Victorian police investigation into the affair was under way.

"Absolutely not," Ms Bishop told Sky News's Australian Agenda when asked whether she would back down. "This goes to her character, her judgment and the not insignificant matter of hundreds of thousands of dollars going missing from the AWU."

Ms Bishop said there were still many unanswered questions.

The Prime Minister has emphatically denied any wrongdoing in the matter and has said she knew nothing of the operations of the AWU Workplace Reform Association at the centre of the scandal.

Ms Bishop also said she had no relationship with the Prime Minister and it was pretty "extraordinary" that the two most senior women in parliament did not speak. "I have friends on the other side of parliament . . . I have an easy rapport with a number of people on the Labor side but that does not include Julia Gillard," she said. "Yes, it is pretty extraordinary. I have certainly gone out of my way to strike up some sort of conversation but it seems I am not Julia Gillard's favourite politician at present."

Ms Bishop also defended comments made in a newspaper interview that she believed women could not have it all, saying instead she was "stating as a matter of fact" that if a woman makes one particular choice, it can rule out other alternatives. "The point I am making today is women have many, many choices but as you make one choice, that may rule out something else. It was a commentary on the challenges that face women," she said.

Ms Bishop also said she would consider giving Kevin Rudd a job in foreign affairs if the Coalition won the election.

DATE	EVENT/DOCUMENT
1990	Julia Gillard becomes a Partner at Slater and Gordon and is in the Industrial Relations Department of law firm
20-08-91	Letter to Bruce Wilson from Julia Gillard concerning a vacancy at the AWU
1-05-91	Julia Gillard brought her property at 36 Phillip Street, Abbotsford Vic property settled in July and she borrowed $40,000 from Slater & Gordon for the deposit and the rest from Westpac bank
6-03-92	Advertisement appeared in the paper for Incorporating the Workplace Reform Association - Theiss may have used it for reference

17-03-92	Locals concerned the Accident and Death Fund was being used to buy property and office equipment with the funds they paid into the fund.
18-03-92	Boulder fund suspended
15-05-92	Bruce Wilson and Julia Gillard go to a meeting with the miners in Kalgoorlie
18-05-92	AWU announce it is taking over the fund at Boulder paper article
13-02-93	Contract of sale signed by Bruce Wilson
13-02-93	Purchase of 85 Kerr Street Fitzroy by Julia Gillard and B Wilson who attended the Auction
13-02-93	blewitt-getting-his-addres.html Purchase of 85 Kerr Street Fitzroy by Julia Gillard and Bruce Wilson who attended the Auction
15-02-93	Letter to Slater & Gordon about the 1/85 Kerr Street sale
15-02-93	Ralph Blewitt is appointed Western Australian Branch Secretary in the week 15 to 19 February
16-02-93	Olive Brosnan and Heidi chasing up the Power of Attorney - notes
17-02-93	Olive Brosnan makes this further note regarding Heidi, a sales person with the Real Estate firm GA Thomson. Note that Heidi returns the call and says that she will let Olive Brosnan have the original Power of Attorney (when she gets it?) and will need a certified copy in return
22-02-93	Slater and Gordon acknowledges that it has received the Contract of Sale, Section 32 Statement and the Power of Attorney from GA Thomson.
23-02-93	Olive Brosnan certifies Power of Attorney
3-03-93	A memo from Sylvia to Olive Brosnan about the application for the loan for Ralph Blewitt and the Kerr Street property
4-03-93	Letter/fax from Hewitt & Company stating Ralph Blewitt Wages Ref VB/CS
9-03-93	Memo to Olive Brosnan from Sylvia about the loan approval and the return of the chq for $500 from Ralph Blewitt’s personal account
10-03-93	Letter from Slater & Gordon addressed to Ralph Blewitt explaining mortgage details Page 1, Page 2, Page 3
10-03-93	Memo Julia Gillard wants details of penalty interest rates
12-03-93	Memo to Julia Gillard from Olive Brosnan about penalty interest rates
17-03-93	Memo of fees for house - Bill of costs
18-03-93	Letter to Ralph Blewitt requesting Cheque for $67,772.30
18-03-93	The cheque for $67,772.30
22-03-93	Settlement date for Kerr Street purchase
23-03-93	Land Transfer document
31-03-94	Dawesville project costs
Aug-Sept 94	Julia Gillard went on holidays while Bruce Wilson organised house renovations
Aug-Sept 94	Interview with Slater & Gordon about the Renovations
6-02-95	New bank accounts for Construction Fund
17-02-95	AWU-FIME amalgamate (2 Victorian Branches)
12-04-95	Cheque from AWU WRAI account $46,550
27-04-95	Cheque for $15000 - $10 000 for K Spyridis and $5000 cash
30-06-95	AWU went back to central funding arrangements
25-07-95	Letter from Robert Smith (AWU) to Ian Cambridge and Steve Harrison about the unknown AWU bank accounts
27-07-95	Letter to the National Executives about the freezing of the accounts
2-08-95	Union National Finance committee meet to discuss what was going on start of investigations into the frozen accounts
4-08-95	Bob Smith wrote to Ian Cambridge to say the AWU was going to charge Bruce Wilson
10-08-95	Ian Cambridge visits QC Richard Kenzie from Maurice Blackburn for discussions to fix it (get union money back)
14-08-95	Internal Review into Julia Gillard’s involvement of the AWU -WRA and she is put on restricted duties
14/15 Aug 95	Other Joint secretaries of the Unions paid out the signatories of the accounts - hand writing on the cheques Link 1 Link 2
16-08-95	Bruce Wilson redundancy cheque $55,204
17-08-95	Letter to stop the cheques Ian Cambridge
17/18 Aug 95	All accounts were closed bar 2 general and grants accounts and redundancies given out
18-08-95	Affidavit - Bill Ludwig - Bruce Wilson get sprung
11-09-95	Julia Gillard interviewed by Geoff Shaw, Peter Gordon and Nick Styant-Browne at Slater and Gordon - It’s recorded and she goes on leave of Absence until May 96 (WA AWU-WRA not yet discovered by AWU yet)
31-01-96	Ian Cambridge addresses AWU Qld Branch meeting
3-04-96	Ian Cambridge talked with Commonwealth Bank - Diary entry - Discovery of Workplace Reform Association INC. WA branch
6-05-96	Discovery of Accounts in AWU name by Ian Cambridge letter from Commonwealth Bank
7-05-96	Fax from Com bank listing the accounts in the AWU name - for Ian Cambridge
1-06-96	Newspaper article about Joe Trio and the AWU fraud article from sometime in 1996
3-06-96	Ian Cambridge received bank records after the discussions with the bank back in April Ian Cambridge spoke to AWU Officials in Perth and they never heard of the Workplace Reform Association Inc.
5-07-96	Diary entry Ian Cambridge - spoke to Branch Official Russell Frearson about the $400,000 going through the account
31-07-96	Geoff Shaw Slater & Gordon General Manager gets Subpoena to supply all documents relating to purchase of 1/85 Kerr Street
13-08-96	Court proceeding where Geoff Shaw is to produce the documents from the Subpeona Link 1, Link 2
6-01-97	Memo from Investigating Detective Dave McAlpine about the AWU fraud
6-02-97	Memo to fraud squad from Theiss stating they hadn’t been defrauded Link 1, Link 2, Link 3, Link 4
17-02-98	Memo fraud squad about Theiss - Ralph Blewitt said Theiss auditors required that the WRA needed to be Inc.

Julie Bishop won't back down, nor will Victoria Police, nor will I

Monday, 11 February 2013

Bishop vows no let-up in pursuit of Gillard and AWU

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