On Bob Kernohan and Bill Shorten with 2GB's Ben Fordham last Thursday
Saturday, 26 April 2014
Here's a link to Ben Fordham and me on 2GB last Thursday.
Here's Bob Kernohan with the then incumbent of the state seat of Doutta Galla (name changed to Melton) David Cunningham.
Here's Bob Kernohan's media statement from February this year.
Media Statement from Bob Kernohan, former AWU President, Victoria Branch.
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCEMENT OF A ROYAL COMMISSION INTO UNION CORRUPTION
I congratulate PM ABBOTT on the announcement of a Royal Commission into corruption in trade unions. I am perplexed however at Bill Shorten’s opposition to a Royal Commission and his claim that a police taskforce should investigate corruption in unions. Bill Shorten knows a lot of the detail about Julia Gillard and Bruce Wilson’s corrupt activities involving the AWU because he was there at the time it happened. So was I. Bill Shorten’s had 18 years to go to the police if he was serious about helping police investigate corruption and he hasn’t lifted a finger. So Bill, I can only think that you oppose a Royal Commission because you’re afraid of what it will report.
I recruited Bill Shorten into the AWU in 1992. Bill was my campaign manager in AWU union elections for the leadership of the Victorian Branch. My opponent was Bruce Wilson whose de facto Julia Gillard was a partner at the AWU’s law firm Slater and Gordon. My bitter campaign against Wilson was focused on serious financial irregularities in the union books. In 1996 the then AWU General Secretary, Ian Cambridge called for a royal commission into the AWU. I supported Ian Cambridge at that time.
Bill Shorten knew at least as much as I knew about the frauds - we discussed it at the time, but since then I’ve seen no positive actions at all from Bill to bring offenders to justice, in fact Bill's done the opposite.
Bill Shorten urged me to participate in the cover up - "think of your career, Bob” he said. I know that Bill Shorten has not assisted either the Victoria Police or the WA Police to bring offenders to justice. He did nothing as State Secretary in Victoria, nor as AWU National secretary in 2001 thru 2007. He never called in the police to investigate. Bill Shorten chose to cover the fraud up; and to add insult to injury, he was a key player in installing Julia Gillard into the Lodge!
A Royal Commission where persons of interest are compelled to give sworn evidence is the only way that corruption in unions will ever be fully exposed and people made to be accountable for their criminal actions.
I can be reached on 0438901594 and I am happy to talk on the record.
And here's The Age covering Bill Shorten's endorsement (after Bob's was withdraw) for the seat of Melton, that is until Bill Gotta Betta Offa.
ALP rising star picks union over Parliament
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| One of Labor's most promising young recruits for the next state election has turned his back on a safe seat in Parliament to head a trade union.
Mr Bill Shorten, 31, has given up his endorsement for the seat of Melton to become Victorian branch secretary of the Australian Workers Union. Mr Shorten, formerly an AWU organiser, was unanimously elected by the union's branch committee of management yesterday after the sudden resignation on Friday of its long-time secretary, Mr Bob Smith. ALP sources said yesterday the secretary of the party's Labor Unity faction, Ms Marsha Thomson, was a front-runner to fill the vacancy created by MrShorten. Sources said the secretary of Victoria's Police Association, Senior Sergeant Danny Walsh, was also being discussed as a potential candidate. Mr Shorten yesterday signalled a significant redirection for the traditionally right-wing union, declaring the state branch intended to reaffiliate with the Trades Hall Council after a five-year absence. His election also paves the way for the union to amalgamate federally with the National Union of Workers, potentially creating a mega-union of more than 200,000 members. But the move to rejoin Trades Hall has hit an early hurdle with the council's secretary, Mr Leigh Hubbard, wanting the union to pay back about $100,000 in affiliation fees out standing from 1993. Mr Hubbard said yesterday it was better to have the union back in Trades Hall than out, and further talks would be held over the money owed. Mr Shorten said he had decided to resign his preselection because he believed he could contribute more ``as a young union official than as a Generation-X backbencher". Acknowledging the union's reputation had been tarnished by internal divisions, he said the challenge for the branch was to rejoin the mainstream union movement and ``put the personality fighting behind us". Mr Smith, the party's endorsed candidate for the seat of Chelsea, said yesterday he had decided to resign from the union post to focus on campaigning in the lead-up to the state election. ``I had come to the realisation that you cannot serve two masters," Mr Smith said. ``It's not fair to try and make out you're the secretary when you are wanting to concentrate on the election." |