CFMEU manually deleted blocks of email-server data - after Royal Commission served Notice to Produce
Tuesday, 29 September 2015
12 Dec 2013 - "The Australian' publishes article confirming Union Royal Commission weeks away
10 Feb 2014 - PM Abbott formal announcement, names CFMEU, include Terms of Reference
18 Feb 2014 - Records Retention Alert to Government agencies and "other persons"
12 Mar 2014 - Government announces Letters Patent signed by GG - TURC RC powers operational
21 Mar 2014 - Archives Act/RC Act orders Govt Agencies & others - retain records, no destruction
26 Mar 2014 - TURC publishes Practice Direction No 1 orders electronic data be produced for NTPs
1 Apr 2014 - 1st Notice to Produce served on CFMEU National Office, applies to al branches
30May 2014 - further 3 NTPs served on CFMEU - numbers 98,103 and 104 - return date 6 Jun
5 Jun 2014 - Philip Pasfield, Slater and Gordon, solicitors for CFMEU writes seeking ext. of time
6 Jun 2014 - CFMEU partial compliance NTP 98 and 104 - TURC extends time to 16 June 2014
16 Jun 2014 - CFMEU delivers paper copies of documents, no electronic data, no electronic copies
23 Jun 2014 - CFMEU "discovers" a 2 year old problem with email server after an "incident"
24 Jun 2014 - 6.33PM This email sent to staff on the "broken" NSW CFMEU email system
24 June 2014, 6.35 PM -CFMEU President and lawyer Rita Mallia created this masterpiece for the "l tried, I really tried to find another way" record
25 Jun 2014 - TURC detailed letter to CFMEU reiterating need for electronic files - files the CFMEU now says were deleted just the night before - extends time for production to 1 July, 2014
30 Jun 2014 - 7 days after the alleged "incident" and manual deletion/destruction of emails electronic files, Slater/Gordon lawyer writes 17 point letter to TURC on the day prior to extended due date for production under the NTP.
1 July 2014 - no further files produced to answer the NTP.
I'm confident there would have been a flurry of activity at the TURC and probably by police after the magnitude of what had gone on became clear. At the time we know police were monitoring George ALEX, Brian PARKER, Darren GREENFIELD and their known associates.
While it's not been published, the TURC did write to the CFMEU's lawyers 30 days later on 30 July 2014 - that letter is referred to by Ms Wray in the document styled "Affidavit" below.
14 August 2014 letter from TURC solicitor Mr Beaton to the CFMEU's lawyer Mr Pasfield
22 August, 2014,4PM - CFMEU officer's affidavit due - Nothing happened.
23, 24, 25, 26 August - Apparently nothing happened then either.
27 August, 2014 - Ms Wray affirmed this Affidavit before CFMEU President (and lawyer) Rita Mallia.
The CFMEU's state secretary Brian "What's Chivalry" Parker and others set up circumstances where Ms Wray was ostensibly wholly-responsible for the decision to destroy the evidence. To illustrate, ask yourself how long she'd last if she unilaterally took the decision to destroy the only copy of files containing things PARKER/MALLIA/SHORTEN etc thought were important (irreplaceable photos, evidence CFMEU leaders had on member of the LNP, unique "bias" evidence against the TURC Commissioner HEYDON etc).
Like a deer in the headlights, Ms Wray fronted at the Commission on 2 September 2014 - this is the TURC transcript - here's what we saw as we watched and commented live.
I hope she wakes up to the company she's been keeping soon. If it makes you feel any better Kylie, it took me a while to do so too!
Kylie Wray, the General Manager of the CFMEU Construction Division NSW Branch
Kylie Wray is represented by John Agius SC.
Ms Wray made an Affidavit that has been received into evidence.
Ms Wray agrees that she is the General Manager of the CFMEU construction division NSW.
She was the Assistant GM since 2009. She was first appointed as a mail junior in 1993.
Besides some years with the national office of the CFMEU Ms Wray has been in continuous employment with the CFMEU NSW Branch.
Ms Wray's responsibilities include overseeing the IT and Finance departments, she backs up the IT officer and she reports to the President Ms Malliah.
Ms Wray "guesses so" that part of her responsibilities include compliance with any Notices to Produce issued by this Royal Commission.
Ms Wray has referred to a letter from the Royal Commission to Slater and Gordon - that letter has been tendered and received into evidence.
Ms Wray was referred to a Notice to Produce dated May 2014 and served on the CFMEU. Ms Wray agrees that the Notice "came to" her and that she is the person responsible for compliance with the Notice.
Ms Wray agreed that she understood the terms of the Notice to Produce in particular in its references to documents, sounds, images or writing relating to any EBA with the George Alex group of companies.
Ms Wray states that while she is the GM she was "part of the team" that was responsible for complying with the Notice to Produce.
Mr Stoljar is referring to a letter from the Commission to Slater and Gordon stating that the Commission has formed the view that the CFMEU has not fully complied with the Notice to Produce.
He refers to a letter in reply from Slater and Gordon. "On Monday 23 June the branch became aware during the course of the afternoon that external emails had not been received, we subsequently found that the email server had not been backed up for a number of years, the only way to fix the problem was to back up the server with a number of emails unfortunately being deleted......"
Ms Wray describes the proposition that the CFMEU's email server was not receiving external emails. "I was aware we were not backing up the email server for 2 years after a fire in May 2010 when the CFMEU office was firebombed."
Ms Wray cannot say which email recipients were affected, which inboxes were affected, what emails are missing, whether or not they are missing because of what she describes as the "crash" of the email server. Mr Stoljar states that there was no crash, only a failure to backup. Ms Wray agreed.
Ms Wray states that emails have been deleted manually in a process whereby IT staff log on to individual officers accounts and manually delete emails.
Ms Wray has described in some detail a process over several days that involved exhaustive "deleting" of emails from CFMEU officials inboxes. Just 'cause the server was "crashing". But she agreed with Mr Stoljar it didn't really crash.
Ms Wray is not an impressive witness.
Mr Stoljar has extensively asked Ms Wray about the fact that she was in possession of the Commission's Notice to Produce at the time that she went ahead and deleted emails. Ms Wray agrees.
Mr Agius has objected to Mr Stoljar's line of questioning.
Mr Stoljar is pursuing a slightly different line of questioning about whether or not emails were routinely printed in the CFMEU office.
Ms Wray agrees that the email deletion commence on 23 June in circumstances where she was already in possession of the Commission's Notice to Produce. She did not consider any alternatives to deleting emails.
Ms Wray agrees that with the large scale deletion of emails it won't be possible for the CFMEU to comply with potential directions from the Commission in future Notices to Produce.
Ms Wray agreed that it won't be possible for the CFMEU to comply with a Notice to Produce for emails from the beginning of 2013 until June 2014 (with the possible exception of persons who did not comply with Ms Wray's instruction that emails be deleted).
Ms Wray has been handed a copy of an email from Ms Malliah to Ms Wray in which she asked, "Any way we can save the emails externally.....???" Ms Wray agrees that she received the email from Ms Malliah but even though she (the union President) raised the option Ms Wray still did not consider the option.
Mr Stoljar is putting a number of allegations to Ms Wray in very pointed form, including that it is a false proposition to state that the email server had crashed and that it is a false proposition to state that the email server wasn't backing up and that was only known about from 23 June 2014.
Mr Stoljar goes on to quote the letter from the CFMEU which states, "The only way to fix the problem was to delete emails from the system." Ms Wray agrees that is a false statement and that an external storage device could have fixed the problem - Ms Wray acknowledges that the branch president Ms Malliah made that very suggestion to her and that she did not act on it.
Ms Wray has given evidence that it never occured to her that it might be possible to store emails on an external storage device.
Mr Stoljar has tendered the email from Ms Malliah to Ms Wray.
Mr Agius SC for Ms Wray is now examining his client.
MS WRAY HAS BEEN EXCUSED
THE COMMISSION IS ADJOURNED
ends