Here's Peter Gordon today talking about the importance of the integrity of the game of Australian Rules Football.

Western Bulldogs chairman Peter Gordon, speaking on behalf of the clubs, told reporters that resolving the issue within the league itself was vital. "In our view, it is of paramount importance that every effort be made to resolve these matters within the AFL industry,’’ Gordon said, reading from a prepared statement.

 

Gordon earlier said that the AFL has the support of the other club presidents to 'protect the integrity of the game' in the league's increasingly bitter battle with Essendon. He also said clubs were becoming increasing concerned by the dispute.

 

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"I do think it's time that we, as the other clubs, make it clear that not only do we support the AFL but we expect the AFL to do its job to protect the integrity of the game, which from my point of view that's what they are doing," Gordon told ABC radio. "Clubs, apart from Essendon, are increasingly concerned by this dispute.

Paramount importance, every effort made, resolving issues vital, other clubs becoming disturbed by the dispute.

Compare and contrast Mr Gordon's statements with his abject failure to report and deal with his own firm's professional misconduct in The AWU Scandal.

Protecting integrity - it's a game.  Top skills Peter.

The Washington Post carries this story today in its Asia Pacific reports.

Iranian suspect bomber Mohammad Kharzei flashes the victory sign upon his arrival at South Criminal Court in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, April. 26, 2013. Kharzei and Saeid Moradi have been detained in Bangkok while another Iranian Masoud Sedaghatzadeh has been arrested in Malaysia after the series of explosions allegedly targeting Israeli diplomats. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Thai court convicts 2 Iranians for botched Bangkok bomb plot revealed when house exploded

www.michaelsmithnews.com only exists because you pay for it.  If you stop so do I!

I think its important work that we do here and much of it is not being covered by media elsewhere.

I continue to be amazed at the new lines of enquiry that emerge in The AWU Scandal - one very significant one today with the 1992 Audit Report on the AWU Victoria Branch from Hewitt and Co.  

So if you think it's important too, here's where you can show your support:

Michael Smith

National Australia Bank

BSB 084 855

A/C 537650476

If anyone in Australia has earned the right to be heard on this issue it's Bob Kernohan.

He has a lot to say - with more to come.  These audioboos are edited from a very lengthy conversation Bob and I had this morning.

We start by talking about Bill Ludwig's resistance to the calls for external audit of the AWU's accounts in 1992.

Astute readers will recall the transmission of a letter from Hewitt and Company to Slater and Gordon in 1993.

V Borovac was the signatory.   He apparently thought quite highly of Bruce Wilson as shown in his 10 September 1993 letter which we'll reprint here:

The same reference number AWU 100 is on both letters.

Bruce had an uncanny ability to find helpful professionals like the good partner and true from Slater and Gordon.

Armed with the independent opinion of V. Borovac, Bruce went off to the National Excutive of the AWU which then sent out this communications piece to every member of the union in Victoria.

The National Executive's note reads very well.   It pours scorn on those who were agitating for a real in-depth audit of the union's finances in Victoria.   Breathtaking.

Bob Kernohan responded with this flyer.

While Bruce accepted the glowing report about himself from Hewitt and Company, he was also involved in the following accounts that he wasn't so keen for others to know about.  And the fix has been in for 20 odd years to keep Bruce's secrets secret.

It's more than passing strange that Julia Gillard, Nicola Roxon, Bill Shorten, Bill Ludwig, Paul Howes and Bruce Wilson have all vigourously resisted attempts for further investigations into this matter.   Why?

Thanks to Dr John Lourens FCPA for this synopsis of the accounts that were not countenanced in the Hewitt independent report which seemed to answer the question "How Good is Bruce Wilson?"

I'm tempted to recall the oldie but goodie about the CEO whose motivational speech starts with, "The sackings will continue until morale improves!"

On Tuesday when the Radio Ratings came out a 2UE staffer sent this email to the industry website Radio Info.

Yesterday, the GM of 2UE responded.

2UE must have the same PR company as Iraq's Information Minister did when his government adopted a new and bold strategy of the type needed to reinvigorate Iraq during the shock and awe of 2003.

In 1992 there were concerns about fraud in the AWU!  Who would have thought?

This extract from a July 1992 letter from Bob Kernohan to the National Secretary of the AWU sets out the Rules of the Union about audit.  The Mr Smith is the first of the two Bob Smiths who held the position of Victorian Branch Secretary.

These media reports set the tone of the time:

And Bob sent flyers like this one to members.

I've looked at a number of records of union meetings at the time, and these extracts of minutes of meetings seem representative of the views of many members who called for external auditors.

As you read in our previous post, the request for an Audit in the terms that Bob set out was refused by the National Executive.

That left Bruce Wilson free to find the best external reviewers he could get.   No doubt Bruce was driven by a desire to deliver the most rigourous assessment of the Victoria Branch's finances that he could.   I don't know what process Bruce used to select the successful Auditors and Management Consultants - but the lucky company was none other than Hewitt and Co, the AWU's Western Australian accountants.

In this letter, Hewitt and Co avoids the use of the capitalised A Audit word.  But they do describe themselves and their work on the Amazing Mr Wilson's finances thus:

As Auditors and Management Consultants to many unions over many years we believe this is the most successful financial turnaround we have ever been involved with.

They refer to their independent review and report on the Victoria Branch, which amazingly was similar to the independent review and report they'd conducted on that paragon of financial rectitude, the quintessence of prudential exactitude, Bruce Wilson's WA branch of the AWU (not including slush funds).

Hewitt and Company say that they'd independently examined the financial controls in place in Victoria in the same way they'd examined the controls in place in WA.   The results at the WA branch were very successful and Victoria was heading in the same direction! 

Those of you whose professional credential involve a bit of exposure to audit et al may wish to get a stiff drink before reading on.

The reaction soon.

I have some startling documents that go a long way to explaining some of the relationships and extraordinary occurences in the AWU in Bruce Wilson's time.

During 1991/2 Bob Kernohan was active in drawing attention to financial irregularities in the AWU in Victoria.

Bob's allegations were quite specific.   He engaged the law firm Maurice Blackburn to draft submissions on his behalf and a partner in the firm, John Cain Jr acted for Bob.     

Amongst other things, Bob pressed for an independent Audit of the Victorian AWU branch and its finances.  The word Audit is a defined term with legislated meaning in Australia.   In layman's terms, an Audit is an examination of an entity's financial accounts (ie balance sheet, income statement, changes in equity, cash flows etc) by someone who is independent.   An Audit must follow government auditing standards.

Bob had legal advice from John Cain Jr who drafted his requests for an Audit.

I'll shortly post a document from the AWU's WA branch accountants addressed to Bruce Wilson - it is simply one of the most breathtaking reports I've ever read.

But first some background.   Here is the letter from the then National Secretary of the AWU rejecting Bob's request for an Audit.

Bill Ludwig was then and still is the National President of the AWU.   Bob says that Bill once told him, "Bob, if you've got the numbers (ie votes), you can do whatever you want."    Bill has "had the numbers" on the AWU's national executive since the late 1980s.  It's fair to say Bill didn't want the Audit to happen.

This article below is from Industrial Relations Magazine, October 1992 (IRM was a weekly bulletin for the IR industy, long before the internet!).   It explains the situation the AWU faced in Victoria in 1992, with Wilson in one corner (supported by Ludwig) and Bob in the other.

Key Points (it's a poor quality copy and somewhat hard to read):

• Bill Ludwig speaks very highly of Bruce Wilson
• Wilson was appointed in Victoria on Ludwig's "advice"
• Ludwig controlled the overall union through the "holy trinity" of the votes of the WA, Victoria andQueensland branches
• Ludwig was against Kernohan's push to take the state secretary job

This extract from a subsequent article in IRM sets the Ludwig/Wilson tone pretty well!

Here's the October 1992 article in full.

More on what did happen in lieu of Bob's call for an external audit soon.

Earlier today, I posted this little audio grab of the unintelligible Garnaut gabbling.  I thought it epitomised the unintelligible rationale for Rudd's carbon tax trading scheme and thus should be preserved as a record of our madness during the Rudd era.

http://t.co/gSOjXXRt2t seeks entries for national sound archives. Ross Garnaut sums up Labor's carbon tax. http://t.co/323cTZqgwe

— Michael Smith News (@mpsmithnews) August 21, 2013

This is Safa Al-Jayoussi on Twitter.

Safa lives in Amman and is Greenpeace's Climate and Energy Campaigner in the Arab world.   She is also the Earth Hour organiser in Jordan.   Very good green credentials.

She is also followed by our Julia on Twitter. I didn't photoshop that in.   Promise.

Safa runs a news website, called Climate Change.   It has lots and lots of news reports and videos from the Climate Change industry.   It's very worthy.

Well, today we made it!   Michael Smith News was included in the Greenpeace daily round-up of pro-climate change news, reinforcing the need for urgent action on dangerous catastrophic global warming, climate change and associated disasters.

And it's true!   Here we are with our Ross Garnaut Audio!

Sometimes you don't know whether to laugh or cry.

This is a copy of a statement that Bob made to police after he was bashed at Melton in 1999.

I have removed some of the contents in the statement.