The ABC reports on a high order criminal damage offence in Perth.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has joined Islamic leaders in condemning a firebombing and anti-Islam graffiti attack outside a mosque and school in Perth's south-east.

Police have confirmed accelerant was used to set the four-wheel drive alight outside the Thornlie Mosque and Australian Islamic College on Tonbridge Way just after 8:00pm on Tuesday.

The car was gutted, while four other vehicles were damaged by heat.

An offensive anti-Islam message was also painted on a nearby wall but has since been removed.

ENDS

An awful crime, the act of full on hoodlums who should be in gaol.

Police deal with arson and criminal damage like this every day.  

Well adjusted and comfortable people have little exposure to this underworld of mindless petty crime that's a constant for police.

To the owner of the car this isn't petty.  But to the Australian criminal justice system it's a common garden variety low order offence.

Except that it took place in a Mosque car park.

Many people say bombings and shootings by Muslims in the name of Islam have nothing to do with Islam  - they're just plain vanilla crimes.

The same people seem to have no problem calling this horrible criminal damage and arson by Perth crooks an act of terrorism.

Maybe they should look into their hearts at their response to this arson.

Act of Dickhead I would say.

We should maintain some sense of proportionality in this.

Islam and Muhammad have a lot to answer for - Australian petty crooks who burn cars are not a part of the solution.

Islamists and their boosters thrive on victimhood.   For God's and Australia's sakes don't help them.

Here's the Venerable to the Eminence luxuriating in their ecumenical loftiness and the horror, the horror of knowing there are at least 3 criminals who live in Perth.

Fr Rod Bower reserves his deepest sorrow for common crimes like this.  

As a former copper working the reality of petty crime in inner-Melbourne, I can only suggest that Fr Bower must be perpetually drawing from the deepest sorrow reservoir.

The Eminence of Muftiness agrees that Rod the Grandstander has hit just the right chord in his oration of outrage.

Meanwhile back at the nothing to do with Islam training camp for Jihadis.

And for me the reality that the people who feel the same way this Sydney mother does are everywhere is sinking in.

Even the land of smiles is not immune from the head-hackers.

I am convicted awaiting sentence for what they call insulting the prophet.

That means pointing out that waiting 3 years to rape the 6 year old he liked doesn't make Muhammad less of a Paedophile.

A 54 year old man should not have sex with a 9 year old girl.

That's a crime Mr Muslim.

The people who think Muhammad was perfect in everything he did are here too.

And that keeps me on the move.  

Again.

You might forgive me for being a bit over Muslim victimhood.

The Prime Minister says it was a mistake to invite the Shady Sheik to Kirribilli House and condemns the Sheik's teaching on gays.  

but the Shady Sheik's views are the views of Islam.   He is supported by the Grand Mufti and the national council of Imams.

Malcolm's mistake wasn't inviting a Shady Sheik.  The PM's difficulties arise from endorsing Islam, the same Islam the Sheik represents.

The Facebook pages of the council of Imams and the Grand Mufti are like a parallel Australia with Arab and Islamic culture, norms and morality.

The Grand Mufti has now trapped the Prime Minister by publishing an open letter which is now going viral through the web.

The Grand Mufti of the Muslims of Australia doesn't just endorse his colleague - he goes much further.   He says the Shady Sheik is a victim of a type of terrorism.

Well one of the first cabs out of that rank was none other than the Prime Minister.  

Australia's PM condemns the Sheik and says his views and teaching on gays have no place in Australia.  The Grand Mufti supports him and says he is a victim of terrorism.

The challenge has been laid down PM.   The Grand Mufti has made move, the next move is yours.

Say nothing and you will tell us all we need to know.

The hard yards for us start up again after the election.

No crooks have been interviewed let alone charged in The AWU Scandal.

A Labor/CFMEU government has appointed its new police commissioner - and his chief of staff is the right hand man to Premier Daniel Andrews.

The lawyer who hand-wrote the note that deceived the Commonwealth Bank into handing over $160,000 to clear up the Bruce Wilson "controversy" is now the Solicitor for Public Prosecutions in Victoria.   He's the man who decides who goes to court and who goes home without charge.

As I hope you can see in my outrage over the continuing protection racket for union officials like Tony Sheldon below - I am still fired up with plenty more to do.

I've had two jobs in radio taken away because I spoke the uncomfortable truth.

First on union corruption and my stories on Craig Thomson and Gillard.

Second on Islam and the danger we face from people who want to live like Muhammad.

It was wrong that you should lose a voice in the media for speaking the truth on those two issues.  But with your support I'll keep doing that here because both issues remain unfixed.

But I can only do that with your help and I need your help to keep going.

I only ask when I really need to.

Let's not walk away from a job that's only half-done.

Michael Smith

BSB: 084855 

Acct No: 537650476

After the close of business yesterday the Fair Work Commission's General Manager Bernadette O'Neill issued this statement.

Here's the way most of the media has reported it.

Sounds pretty innocuous doesn't it?  Civil court action for failing to remove the names of un-financial members.

That's what you'll read in the papers - if you see anything reported at all.

This should be a very big story.  The fact that it's not should worry the living daylights out of anyone who cares about Australia.

This matter is being stage-managed by the Labor and ACTU spin doctors.

Failing to keep the books up to date is not what this is about at all.  

This is an open window into the corrupt system that delivers benefits for union officials and fits you and me up with parliamentarians like Shorten, Conroy and Gillard.

Trade Union Royal Commissioner Dyson Heydon AC QC heard extensive evidence on this matter.  He said this about Sheldon:

83. The evidence permitted an inference that Mr Sheldon was giving knowingly false answers, and that he had known for years that false membership numbers were being put forward. From that flows a further inference: that there was some advantage to be gained from doing this. The relevant advantage was an increase in TWU voting power at the ALP Conference and an advantage to Mr Sheldon as leader of the TWU delegates.

But you won't see that reported.

This would have been Tony Abbott's moment in the campaign sun.   Tony understood the significance of the TWU membership fraud and other union related frauds and scams just like this one.

Malcolm Turnbull's failure to make corruption like this a campaign issue is unforgivable.

Make no mistake - Australia will continue to pay the price of Turnbull's "not anti-union" stance for years to come.

Turnbull cannot claim ignorance in his conscious and unconscionable decision not to purse the issue of widespread corruption - here's the ABC's report on the day the TURC 's final report was released

Trade union royal commission findings: Malcolm Turnbull says report shows widespread malpractice in unions

Updated 31 Dec 2015, 4:56AM 

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has described the final report of the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption as a "real watershed moment" for the labour movement and for Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.

The report, prepared by Commissioner Dyson Heydon and unveiled on Wednesday morning, has referred to "widespread and deep-seated" misconduct by union officials.

More than 40 individuals and organisations have been referred to various authorities, including police, directors of public prosecutions, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Fair Work Commission.

There was also a recommendation for an independent body with greater powers to investigate union records and finances.

"They can take this opportunity to support these recommendations and undertake real and everlasting reform of the trade union movement," Mr Turnbull told reporters in Sydney.

"This is not a case of a few rotten apples spoiling the whole barrel — there are many union officials, and widespread cultures, of impropriety and malpractice."

The Federal Government has vowed to re-introduce legislation re-establishing the Australian Building and Construction Commission and wants it passed by the end of March next year. 

Mr Turnbull warned he was prepared to fight an election if Parliament did not support the measure.

"If this is not passed, if we cannot get the passage of this legislation through the Senate, then in one form or another it will be a major issue at the next election," he said.

"And we will be going to the members of the unions and we will be saying to them we want you to get a fair deal."

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash described the final report as "D-day" for corruption within the union movement. 

"Today, the denial stops and today, the distractions stop," Senator Cash said.

But since then - nothing. Gutless.  No judgement.   Not fit for office.

This is some of the history of my involvement with the  TWU membership fraud - all published to this website as it happened.

THURSDAY, 24 JULY 2014

The TWU will have some questions to answer. So will its auditors. And Fair Work Australia.

Here is an extract from its report showing its member numbers in 2010 - 40,501 members 

Here is 2011 - 40,813

(the original post listed several years of returns then continues)

Yesterday's disclosure by the Labor Party and TWU NSW branch that the real number of members is just over 17,000 may cause some problems for the officers of the union who signed off on the accounts, for the auditors and for the Fair Work Australia rubber stampers.

I've published a screen grab of the SMH article yesterday that reported the Labor Party and TWU admissions about the new numbers - just over 17,000.   What the SMH did not report on was the sworn statutory declarations made by the TWU state secretary for NSW Wayne Forno, or the numbers in his annual returns, claiming 43,800 members for 2013.

The SMH focuses on the TWU losing influence in the NSW Labor Party.   Given the apparently questionable statutory declarations to FWA that may be the least of their worries.

 ENDS

I then compared the financial statements from the TWU with the membership numbers and dues payable

FRIDAY, 25 JULY 2014

Maybe the Wolf of Wall Street could explain the TWU's financial returns - I'm having trouble.

The Transport Workers Union's NSW website is here - Wayne Forno tells us that the NSW branch has more than 30,000 members.

The NSW branch website tells us exactly how much each member pays in dues - $617 PA through direct debit or $660 PA through payroll deductions.

Like all Registered Organisations the TWU NSW branch reports to Fair Work Australia annually.   It filed two returns for the calendar year 2013:

A financial report - here

A report concerning membership numbers and office holders - here 

The arithmetic is not complicated - the TWU tells us that each financial member pays at least $617 in annual membership fees.   The TWU NSW branch claims to have 43,835 members.   So somewhere in the financial accounts we will looking for about $27 million.   Let's go.

(original post contained a statutory declaration about member numbers).  

So what do the financial accounts tell us?

Just to step through the process - here is the Fair Work Commission website which holds records for every Registered Organisation (ie union) registered under our industrial laws - it looks like this

 

 (then followed pages of financial documents)

 

 Clearly $27 million is not accounted for in the NSW branch financial records.   Either there are some zeros missing or the money must be accounted for elsewhere.   That's our mission today - to find it.   More soon.

ENDS

25 July 2014 I report the matter to Fair Work Australia 

I sent this unanswered email to Bernadette O'Neill

From: Michael Smith <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, Jul 25, 2014 at 11:07 AM
Subject: TWU membership numbers
To: [email protected]

Dear Ms O'Neill,

 

STATUTORY DECLARATION REGARDING TWU MEMBERSHIP NUMBERS

 

On 22 July 2014 this article appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, it includes a claim that the TWU NSW branch has "amended" its member numbers from more than 38,000 down to 17,800.   The report quoted a "TWU spokesman" who said the union had ''amended'' its affiliation to NSW Labor ''in line with a clarification of party requirements''. 

 

On 24 March 2014 the secretary of the TWU NSW Branch Mr Wayne Forno made a statutory declaration under the Statutory Declarations Act 1958 that the branch had 43,835 members.   That declaration is filed with the Fair Work Commission here.

 

Is the Fair Work Commission investigating the matter?

 

I propose to treat this email to you as an open and public communication and to publish it and any reply I receive.

 

Kind regards,

 

Michael Smith 

 I received no answer.

MONDAY, 04 AUGUST 2014 I reported the matter to the organisation responsible for enforcing the Statutory Declarations Act - the AFP

Report to the AFP regarding a certain statutory declaration

Original email sent to Commissioner Tony Negus today.

Dear Commissioner,

 

FORNO, Wayne - Branch Secretary, Transport Workers Union of Australia, NSW Branch

 

I write to you in relation to the AFP's responsibility to enforce the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1959.

 

On 24 March 2014 Wayne FORNO apparently made the following Statutory Declaration at Parramatta, NSW - filed here at the Fair Work Commission.

 

  

 

 

Mr FORNO declared that his union's register of members had been maintained under Section 230 (1) (a) and Section 230 (2) of the Act.   He declared that the number of persons who were so recorded was 43,835.   Here is Section 230 of the relevant act.

 

FAIR WORK (REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS) ACT 2009 - SECT 230

Records to be kept and lodged by organisations

             (1)  An organisation must keep the following records:

                     (a)  a register of its members, showing the name and postal address of each member and showing whether the member became a member under an agreement entered into under rules made under subsection 151(1);

                     (b)  a list of the offices in the organisation and each branch of the organisation;

                     (c)  a list of the names, postal addresses and occupations of the persons holding the offices;

                     (d)  such other records as are prescribed.

Note:          This subsection is a civil penalty provision (see section 305).

             (2)  An organisation must:

                     (a)  enter in the register of its members the name and postal address of each person who becomes a member, within 28 days after the person becomes a member;

                     (b)  remove from that register the name and postal address of each person who ceases to be a member under section 171A, or under the rules of the organisation, within 28 days after the person ceases to be a member; and

                     (c)  enter in that register any change in the particulars shown on the register, within 28 days after the matters necessitating the change become known to the organisation.

Note 1:       This subsection is a civil penalty provision (see section 305).

 

The Fair Work Commission is a Commonwealth authority for the purposes of the Statutory Declarations Act 1959 and the use of a Commonwealth Statutory Declaration under that act is stipulated here.

 

On 22 July 2014 the Sydney Morning Herald published this report.

To summarise, on 24 March 2014 FORNO declared under the provisions of Section 230 of the Fair Work Act the number of members in the TWU of Australia NSW Branch was 43,835.   On 22 July 2014 a "TWU Spokesman" had "amended" its affiliation and the full SMH report states the actual number of members was 17,300.

Perhaps you might let us know if the AFP is investigating the matter.   I will treat this letter to you as an open communication which I propose to publish.

Yours sincerely,

 

Michael Smith

www.michaelsmithnews.com

 

ENDS

MONDAY, 11 AUGUST 2014 - still no acknowledgement from O'Neill at FWC

More problems for the Transport Workers Union

I'm speechless on this TWU membership numbers issue.

On 22 July this year The Sydney Morning Herald published a story by Ben Schneiders and Royce Millar on the TWU's membership numbers - link here.   The headline was

TWU loses Labor Party influence as membership rort is caught

The story ran on the eve of the NSW Labor Party conference where the TWU's influence was cut in half as a result of the correction to its membership numbers.

You might recall we reported on the Statutory Declaration of membership numbers made by the TWU's NSW secretary Wayne Forno on 24 March 2014.

I thought it incredible that the numbers could be reported in March, only to be cut in half in July.   However what I've just had pointed out to me beggars belief.  

On 1 December, 2013, the Sydney Morning Herald published a detailed story on the TWU's numbers, including a great deal of analysis and admissions by officials that the numbers were inflated.   That's 3 months before this year's series of statutory declarations by TWU officials.

Here's a link to the Fairfax story - the headline is below.

 TWU inflated membership numbers to gain voting clout 

None of that seemed to bother either Wayne Forno, the NSW State Secretary or Michael Kaine, the National Assistant Secretary.

The TWU national report to FWA lists membership at 94,025. Michael Kaine, who is also a lawyer, signed and dated a statutory declaration on March 31, 2014. (see http://www.e-airc.gov.au/files/179v/AR2014.97.pdf)

The same year returns for state branches of the union shows

NSW: 43,835 (http://www.e-airc.gov.au/files/179vnsw/AR201493.pdf)

QLD: 9,558 (http://www.e-airc.gov.au/files/179vqld/AR201496.pdf)

SA/NT: 5990 (http://www.e-airc.gov.au/files/179vsa/AR2014.98.pdf)

Vic:Tas: 24,621 (http://www.e-airc.gov.au/files/179vvic/AR201494.pdf)

WA: 10,030 (http://www.e-airc.gov.au/files/179vwa/AR201495.pdf)

I see from the Fair Work Australia website that there is still no inquiry or investigation into the TWU and its annual reports.   It's very difficult to understand why.

ENDS 

WEDNESDAY, 29 OCTOBER 2014 - AFP flicks to FWC

AFP responds to our report regarding Wayne FORNO and his statutory declaration of TWU membership numbers

On Monday 4 August 2014 I made this report to the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police.

The key points were:

• The AFP enforces the Statutory Declarations Act 1958
• On 24 March 2014 Mr Wayne Forno swore an apparently false Statutory Declaration, stating the TWU NSW Branch had 43,835 members - by his admission he knew at the time it had 17,300.

This morning I received this letter from Superintendent Mark McIntyre of the AFP Crime Operations department.

The Fair Work Commission has no enforcement role in relation to policing the Statutory Declarations Act 1958 - it also has no role in policing murder, rape or armed robbery.   Police prosecute a range of Australians every day - normally without regard to the status their job might confer on them.   That is the duty of police.   Their role is to detect offences and bring offenders before the courts.  

Joel Silver makes some very good points in this paper submitted to the Royal Commission into Union Corruption and Governance, summed up in this quote:

 

While there is some merit in their separate registration and regulation, there is  
nothing so unique or complicated about trade unions as to justify investigations
into them being handled by a specialist agency, let alone to the exclusion of
ordinary law enforcement. Agencies including the Australian Federal Police and
Australian Crime Commission have experience in such investigations (of which
the General Manager Fair Work Australia was shown to be lacking), and whose impartiality is not as easily called into question. Such agencies should have responsibility for all and 
any future investigations

 

I note that the Fair Work Commission's GM Bernadette O'Neill is yet to report any inquiry or investigation into this matter.

I'll have more to say, rest assured.  While the Gillard Government went out of its way to protect its union mates, we will hold this Government to account in undoing any actual or perceived special protections for mates of the elites.

 ENDS 

I made more calls, sent emails, contacted the Minister Eric Abetz.  Nothing happened

As the TURC operation for its second and unexpected year kicked off, the FWC belatedly listed and inquiry into the TWU.

MONDAY, 16 MARCH 2015

A divisional detective would finish the TWU forgery investigation within a week. It's taken the FWC 8 months to start its inquiries.

In July last year we reported on apparently false statutory declarations made by Wayne Forno and other officials of the Transport Workers Union.   Those declarations grossly inflated the TWU's membership numbers.  In turn, the inflated membership numbers delivered Tony Sheldon and his cronies unearned power and influence within the Labor Party.

It's now 8 months since the Fair Work Commission was made aware of the prima facie falsely sworn declarations and the apparently fraudulent claims regarding membership numbers within the TWU.   Our initial report contained evidence that would lend itself to a prosecution brief.  But there's been no prosecution.  There's been no investigation.  And until just over one week ago, the Fair Work Commission hadn't even started preliminary inquiries into the matter.

8 months after it received our report, this announcement appeared within a section of the FWC website  hidden several clicks away from public view.

Current inquiries & investigations

Current inquiries

• Transport Workers' Union of Australia—inquiry commenced 5 March 2015 (pursuant to s.330 of the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009)

The FWC process provides firstly for an inquiry into a reported breach of the law.

After the completion of an inquiry, the next step is to establish a investigation.

At the completion of the investigation, the matter may be referred to the Commonwealth prosecution agency for further action.

FWC - protecting union mates since Craig Thomson.

ENDS

And after all that - the Gillard protection racket operated out of Fair Work says this is about a failure to update membership numbers within a union.

Here is a selection of comments from Commissioner Heydon's report on the TWU and Sheldon's conduct.

 

Mr Sheldon’s conduct was done in order to benefit an organisation – the TWU – in increasing delegate numbers and therefore voting power at the NSW Labor Conference. It was also done in order to procure an advantage for an officer of the TWU, Mr Sheldon, since his power as leader of the TWU delegates would increase. That is conduct falling below the professional standards of a leading trade union official.

44. During his oral testimony, Mr Sheldon admitted that there were not 39,212 members that could vote in a union ballot that year,54 and that roughly half of the declared members were in fact unfinancial members.

45. Plainly, the 2008/2009 declaration submitted by Mr Sheldon was wrong. It grossly inflated the eligible number of TWU of NSW members to be used for the purposes of calculating the TWU of NSW’s delegates to the ALP Annual Conference.

54. Mr Sheldon’s explanation cannot be accepted. All along the TWU should only have been reporting the ‘number of members eligible to vote in a ballot for an office in that union...’.63

55. 71. It was plain throughout the examination of Mr Sheldon on this topic over 15 pages of transcript77 that senior counsel assisting was extremely sceptical about Mr Sheldon’s evidence on this topic. Mr Sheldon can have been in no doubt that his claim that what happened was an innocent mistake shared by others was not being accepted and that senior counsel assisting was contending, as lame explanation succeeded lame explanation, that Mr Sheldon knew the errors were persistently being made.

    78. These are non-credible answers and senior counsel assisting was indicating his incapacity to believe them.

    79. The examination concluded with the following gratuitous comment from the witness, not in answer to any question:86

        THE WITNESS: You’ve probably asked me the same question about 10 different ways. I can give you a few suggestions. You’ll get the same answer.

        MR STOLJAR: You haven’t answered yet, Mr Sheldon.

    83. The evidence permitted an inference that Mr Sheldon was giving knowingly false answers, and that he had known for years that false membership numbers were being put forward. From that flows a further inference: that there was some advantage to be gained from doing this. The relevant advantage was an increase in TWU voting power at the ALP Conference and an advantage to Mr Sheldon as leader of the TWU delegates.

 

After Sheldon released this media statement attacking the TURC, Commissioner Heydon made this notation to a section of his Final Report.

344 Tony Sheldon’s statement is as inaccurate as the other point made in his letter: ‘The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found the royal commission was wrong to allege an agreement between Toll and the TWU to set up a fund on training, safety, auditing and education was anti-competitive’. The Interim Report made no allegation of this kind. All that it did was to note that the ACCC had announced on 21 October 2014 that it was conducting an investigation, and state that this was an appropriate course: Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption, Interim Report (2014), Vol 1, ch 7.2, p 998, para 55. It is unfortunately necessary also to draw attention to a false statement in the following part of a letter to the Editor of The Australian, published on 26 November 2015: ‘The Transport Workers Union was forced to spend time and resources answering questions at the Commission. We have been vindicated at every turn.’ Quite apart from the findings made against the Transport Workers’ Union in this Chapter, of which Tony Sheldon would have been ignorant at the time of writing his letter, it is not true that as at 26 November 2015 the Transport Workers’ Union and its officials ‘have been vindicated at every turn’. See the criticisms made in the Interim Report (Vol 1, ch 4.2, 4.4, 6.2 and in particular 10.2 concerning the deceitful membership numbers supplied by the Transport Workers’ Union to the Australian Labor Party with a view to boosting the Transport Workers’ Union delegate strength at New South Wales State Labor Conferences, and Tony Sheldon’s knowingly false evidence on that subject).

 

Today the tragic Employment Minister Michaelia Cash is quoted in her media statement made to The Australian and the AFR last night.

 The trade union royal commission made serious findings of membership rorts against the TWU. It found that these rorts were undertaken to falsely inflate the number of members in order to boost the power base of TWU bosses in the Labor Party. These are very serious matters and it is appropriate that they now be considered by the courts."

Well Michaelia, sadly you prove once again that you're a sucker.  You've been taken in.   You're right that these are serious matters - but that's not what any court will hear based on Bernie O'Neill's statement.

You might think the Gillard/Bernadette O'Neill approach is "appropriate" in dealing with these racketeering organised crooks and that a court should consider O'Neill's suggested breaches.

I don't.  

Australia deserves a lot better performers in our government than the insipid ineptitude of the judgement-free Turnbull Coalition.

The tragedy is Turnbull rolled Tony Abbott to give us this.

Only 6 months ago Turnbull promised this.

Turnbull flags sweeping reform following union royal commission as unions urge caution

 

 

 

 

The Turnbull government has flagged sweeping new laws to tackle trade union corruption after a Royal Commission found the labour movement was riddled with "widespread" and "deep-seated" misconduct.

The final report by Commissioner Dyson Heydon referred key union figures including the disgraced former Health Services Union Kathy Jackson and Victorian Labor MP Cesar Melhem to prosecutors for possible charges. But it made no adverse finding against Labor leader Bill Shorten, who was head of the Australian Workers Union when it committed a series of breaches detailed in the report.

Labor and the unions swiftly dismissed the report as a political witch-hunt, saying that the cases highlighted by Mr Heydon were isolated and did not represent systemic problems among union officials.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Minister for Employment, Senator Michaelia Cash, and Attorney-General Senator George Brandis address the media after the release of the final report from the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption in Sydney. Photo: Janie Barrett

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Employment Minister Michaelia Cash strongly indicated that many of the report's 79 recommendations would be adopted by the government in the form of new laws, amounting to a significant tightening of union regulation.

 

"If its recommendations are substantially adopted, if the lessons of this report are learned, the trade union movement will emerge much stronger," Mr Turnbull said.

Describing the report as a "watershed moment" for unions, Mr Turnbull vowed to make union reform an election issue if the Senate blocks new laws.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/turnbull-flags-sweeping-reform-following-union-royal-commission-as-unions-urge-caution-20151230-glwthv.html#ixzz4D0XjEHbd 

Well they blocked those laws Mal. What happened?  Did you forget?

The election campaign is effectively over.  People are voting.  And waiting for leadership that will never come from you.

How appropriate is this couple as a representation of Labor values? They're pictured here at a TWU dinner in honour of US Teamsters boss Jeff Farmer.

When Julia needed looking after, Tony Sheldon, Bill Ludwig and Paul Howes from the AWU made it clear - they had Julia's back.  Julia doesn't forget loyalty like that.

Tony Sheldon is a continuing beneficiary of the Gillard union protection racket.  

Remember the Fair Work General Manager Bernadette O'Neill?  

Who could forget Bernie's glacial speed in investigating Craig Thomson - giving the Gillard Government more time for Craig to keep the balance of power in the House and Gillard in the lodge.

Well Bernie's still got it.   She has taken two years to read evidence I reported formally to the Australian Federal Police in August 2014 after the Fairfax press reported on the TWU's inflated member numbers in December 2013.

http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2014/08/report-to-the-afp-regarding-a-certain-statutory-declaration.html

The AFP decided to flick my crime report and the investigation of the TWU member fraud to the FWC where it's been warehoused without action until last night - when Tony was out of town and there's precious little time for news until the election.

http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2014/10/afp-responds-to-our-report-regarding-wayne-forno-and-his-statutory-declaration-of-twu-membership-num.html

This post isn't exhaustive - I'm half way through another comprehensive post on this issue - but researching on Twitter I found out why other media are reporting that "Tony Sheldon could not be contacted for comment" on the day Bernie announced this:

So where's Tony?

Teamsters2016 International Convention #Teamsters #Live Tony Sheldon TWU Australia National Secretary pic.twitter.com/guVYulsr8d

— TEAMSTERS LOCAL 1932 (@1932teamsters) June 28, 2016

TWU Australia National Secretary Tony Sheldon speaking to the convention delegates now. https://t.co/C0nv824pWa

— Teamsters Local 344 (@TeamstersLU344) June 28, 2016

Ton's in the US with his Teamster mates to discuss issues of concern to Australian transport workers.  Like refuelling Frank Sinatra's private jet..

"TWU industrial action stopped Sinatra's plane demanding apology for insulting female journalists-@TWUAus Sec. Tony Sheldon #Teamsters2016

— Teamsters (@Teamsters) June 28, 2016

LIVE on #Periscope: @Teamsters Local 1932 IBT convention #Live Tony Sheldon TWU Australia National Secretary https://t.co/zsrk1Kctyw

— TEAMSTERS LOCAL 1932 (@1932teamsters) June 28, 2016

What a coincidence Tony would be out of town supporting old mates in Jimmy Hoffa's Teamsters when he's being prosecuted for his own numbers racket.

Tony, Julia Gillard and the Teamsters have some joint form and memories of fun times at workers expense. Here's Tony Sheldon handing $5,000 of TWU members money to Teamsters boss Jeff Farmer for the families of American Teamster members in a dispute with their employer Toll Holdings in Los Angeles.

Hard to know how Aussie TWU members benefit from Tony giving their union dues to Americans.

Here's what happened when Tony had a chance to show his support for an Australian TWU member who worked for Toll.

Driver Paul Bracegirdle explained whose side Tony was on to the Trade Union Royal Commission.

Q. You had a particular interest in having a choice of super. Why was that? Getting a choice of super for yourself - where did your interest stem from?

A. Well, two things. One, I have a disabled daughter. She will never be able to work. She has a very low intellectual ability. And so I was just hoping to afford her the best future that I could and I just - you know, I think you should be able to look into which super funds offer the best rates of return, the least fees - various things. And I just didn't think that TWUSUPER was stacking up as well as some of the commercial organisations, some of the banks and things. And, two, I just thought it was wrong. You know, I just couldn't believe it, that, you know, we could be told where to put 10 per cent of our income. I was shocked. That's where the interest comes from.

After his union sold him out, Mr Bracegirdle went to his local member, Stephen Smith MP and Chris Bowen eventually gave Labor's mealy mouthed response in a letter Smith forwarded to Paul.

Fair Work Commissioner Ian Cambridge was on Paul's side - the side of the law - but Tony Sheldon's TWU had done a sweetheart deal with Toll Group to sell the workers down the river.   And Paul Bracegirdle was just a member with a disabled daughter - not a famous figure like the United States "Teamsters" union boss Jeff Farmer.

Donation of members money to old mate from America - $5,000 and a slap up dinner.

Treating your members like mushrooms - priceless.

Tony didn't like the TURC.  I think he likes Bernadette O'Neill and some of the FWC Commissioners like former ETU and Labor Party chief Bernie Riordan a lot.  But not the TURC.

One day, Tony got so angry with the awful TURC he stamped his foot and "demanded" they make it stop.

But the TURC didn't stop.   It examined Tony and the TWU membership numbers fraud.  Commissioner Heydon said Sheldon’s conduct benefited the union by increasing delegate numbers and therefore voting power at the NSW Labor conference. “It was also done in order to procure an advantage for an offi­cer of the TWU, Mr Sheldon, since his power as leader of the TWU delegates would increase,’’ the report said. “That is conduct falling below the professional standards of a leading trade union official.”

The commission also concluded that evidence from Mr Sheldon, the union’s national secretary, “permitted an inference that Mr Sheldon was giving knowingly false answers, and he had known for years that false membership numbers were being put forward. From that flows a further infer­ence: that there was some ­advantage to be gained from this.’’

Bernadette's delay for 6 months in finalising her investigation is confounding.  All the evidence has been clear for ages.  What on earth would cause her to wait until the last days of the election campaign when Tony's out of the country and unavailable to contribute to the media's effort to bring you this story?

As it happens Tony didn't have to worry about the nasty TURC after all.  Because last September God sent an angel to Tony to help him stop worrying.

Friendly Bernie at the FWC can deal with this as a civil matter involving the TWU entity in litigation - not Tony in a criminal prosecution.

And because Malcolm is not anti-union, Tony and the boys are free to operate their scams.  This one was a beauty - charging super the super schemes to pay the wages of TWU thugs and standover men.

More union employees whose wages are paid by other organisations means more people at election time to campaign for more union officials to hold more seats in parliament where they can make laws to protect corrupt union officials.   Just like Julia did.

And that means thzt people like this former TWU superannuation consultant can rest easily, knowing that Malcolm is not "anti" the organisations from which Conroy slithered into parliament.

I had a coffee with Graham Richardson after I'd reported chapter and verse on the TWU member fraud to the police in 2014.

Richo said, "That's going nowhere mate.  You watch.  They'll never get done for it".

Richo wasn't giving me an opinion.  Richo spoke with a tone of authority as if he was talking about a decision that's already been made.

I don't want to live in the land of the sweetheart deals for protected mates..

And Richo, I'm not going to die wondering if I could have done more.

I've just sent this note to the very responsive media people at DFAT.

Dear XXXX

The following narrative provides a discussion of the program logic that underpins the investment design for the Education Pathways to Peace in Mindanao (PATHWAYS) program.

 

The central element of this approach is the engagement of the two core actors (the ARMM, specifically the DepEd-ARMM – on behalf of the GPH and the Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA) on behalf of the MILF) through a ‘twin pathway’ implementation arrangement. 

‘Amaq News Agency, one of the Islamic State’s news outlets, has released a short infographic detailing the jihadist group’s operations and activities in the Philippines. The infographic is set up similar to those released for official Islamic State wilayats (provinces), which indicates the rising importance of the Philippines for the jihadist group.

The infographic (above) includes several important claims of the Islamic State in the Philippines, including how many groups have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and where these groups operate. Additionally, it claims 289 Filipino troops have been killed by Islamic State forces since April 2015, including 100 alone in April 2016. The Filipino government has heavily disputed these numbers.

While the infographic contains numbers from April 2015, it confirms the first official announcement of Filipino jihadist groups pledging allegiance to the Islamic State occurred in January 2016. Videos and reports of groups pledging bayah (allegiance) have emerged since 2014, shortly after Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State, claimed the creation of a caliphate. The video in January, however, was the first time the Islamic State publicly accepted these pledges.

A month later, the Islamic State’s Furat media released another video showing more groups pledging allegiance.  This includes Isnilon Hapilon, a US-designated terrorist, who heads the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG). In an April issue of the Islamic State’s weekly newsletter Al Naba, the jihadist group said that Hapilon (called Abu Abdullah al Filipini, one of his noms de guerre, in the newsletter) has been appointed as emir of all Islamic State forces in the Philippines according to a translation from the SITE Intelligence Group.

His appointment seems likely as Hapilon is the senior most figure to have defected to the Islamic State in the Philippines. This also means that a formal leadership structure for the Islamic State is in place, exemplifying its expansion in the country. The latest infographic also shows more examples of expansion and gives credence to a formal leadership structure, as ‘Amaq claims that the Islamic State has 10 “fighting battalions” in the Philippines.

This number includes at least a portion or all of ASG, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), Ansar Khilafah in the Philippines, Katibat Ansar al Sharia, Katibat Marakah al Ansar, the Islamic State in Lanao, Jund al Tawhid (a former ASG battalion), Jamaat al Tawhid wal Jihad (a group formerly loyal to al Qaeda), and parts of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

A few days ago we reported on the claim by the Islamic State that the Philippines island of Mindanao had become a province or Wilyat of the Caliphate.

We also reported details of a $38M foreign aid program funded by the Australian Government in Mindanao - to provide "Basic Education Assistance for Muslim Mindanao (Philippines)".

Mindanao has a mostly Muslim population - while the rest of the Philippines is majority Catholic.  Armed groups of Islamist terrorists like the Abu Sayyaf are organised into military style units that operate with apparent impunity within much of the region.   Like the Taliban, they enforce a strict Islamic way of life and are notorious for beheading prisoners and other Islamic punishments for non-c0ompliance with their Mohammedan ways.

Mindanao is home to the only self-governed separate territory within The Philippines - the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

It has its own flag, seal and other trappings of autonomy - including the tell-tale sword of Islam and a predominantly Islamic way of governing

After the Tsunami in 2004 we gave about $1BN in foreign aid to the Indonesian province of Aceh.  Our aim was to foster goodwill between that predominantly Muslim territory and the West.   Judged on that intended outcome that program was a debacle.   Aceh has moved relentlessly towards a strict Sharia way of life including public canings and Sharia police who arrest women who aren't covered up.   You'd think we'd have learned our lesson.  In Muslim states, Islam prevails over Western values.   They'll happily take our money but not our way of life.

Australia's lefties are always on the look out for hopeless projects. Mindanao ticked all the hopeless boxes, strictly Muslim, armed Taliban like militia enforcing the Sharia and more recently pledges  of allegiance to the Islamic State.

In early 2012 the Gillard Government advertised this request for tenders:  

BASIC EDUCATION ASSISTANCE FOR MINDANAO – AUTONOMOUS REGION IN MUSLIM MINDANAO (BEAM-ARMM) PROGRAM

The Australia-Philippines Development Strategy highlights Australia's goal of improving access to and quality of basic education for Filipino children.  The Basic Education Assistance for Mindanao in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BEAM-ARMM) Program is designed to assist the Government of the Philippines improve delivery of basic education in ARMM, the poorest and lowest performing region in the country.  

The contractor for the BEAM-ARMM will cover specific components:  Component 1b on Basic Education; and Component 3 on Technical Vocational and Skills Development for the Out-of-School Youth and Support to DepED-ARMM's Overall Program Monitoring and Evaluation.  The overarching goal of the program is to contribute to the alleviation of poverty in ARMM and in the longer term, the emergence of peace through closely targeted investments in basic education.

The Program's objectives are:

• improve access, participation and completion rates in basic education; 
• improve learning achievement in functional literacy and numeracy in elementary education; and improve the quality of teaching in English, Mathematics and Science in secondary school;
• develop employment related skills for senior level of secondary school and for out-of-school youth; and
• improve management systems within DepED ARMM.

Cardno Emerging Markets won the tender.  Their current contract runs from 2015 t5o 2017 and is valued at $38M - the Agreement with DFAT is titled  "Basic Education Assistance for Muslim Mindanao (Philippines)".

Tensions are escalating in the Mindanao region between the Islamist groups who've pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and government forces from The Philippines.   Whatever outcomes the Australian Government's $38M is producing it's apparently not included a reduction in hostilities.  

Nor has our money produced  any move towards civilisation and away from Islam - quite the opposite.  

As a result of the proclamation by the Islamic State that Mindanao is now a province of the Caliphate, I wrote to DFAT for comment about our $38M and the wisdom of spending it in Mindanao.  My note concluded with:

Is the Australian Government aware of the Islamic State claim that Mindanao is part of the Caliphate? Is the DFAT funding for Muslim education in Mindanao affected?

What is the syllabus being taught in Mindanao through our $38M "Basic Education Assistance for Muslim Mindanao (Philippines)"?

Can the Australian Government reassure us that none of our money goes to the benefit of the Islamic State or or to advance its teachings, including those of its subsidiaries like Abu Sayyat?

Given the Abu Sayyaf/Islamic State influence in the province, is it wise for Australia to fund Muslim education given the widespread traditional Islamic practices and influence on the way Islam is practiced?

Kind regards,

Michael Smith

Today I received this reply:

UNCLASSIFIED

Michael, thanks for your email.

For your background, Australia works with the Government of the Philippines and the official Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao to deliver targeted development programs, including through the Basic Education Assistance in Muslim Mindanao (BEAM-ARMM) program. We have been a long-standing supporter of the education sector in Mindanao, in recognition of the impact poverty and conflict has had on educational outcomes in the region. 

The DFAT AusTender notification represents an extension to a successful program which works with officially endorsed Government schools that teach government endorsed curriculum - it is not a new program. Funding moderate and good quality education is a better alternative to conflict and extremist teaching. All beneficiary organisations and schools are vetted to ensure that terrorist groups, including the Islamic State, Abu Sayyaf Group and known affiliates, do not receive funds. The syllabus used in this program is recognised and approved by the Philippines Government National Department of Education and is based on a standard core of literacy, numeracy, science and technology.

The Mindanao region remains under the control of the elected Government of the Philippines. The Australian Government works closely with countries in the region, including the Philippines, to address the threat of transnational terrorism.

Regards

ENDS

What the DFAT official didn't tell me is that the current Government of Turnbull has well developed current plans to double our education commitment in Muslim Mindanao's Maddrassas or Islamic Schools.

Reader Seeker of Truth gave me this research earlier today:

 DFAT is going to provide more funding to its Mindanao education program through its Education Pathways for Peace in Mindanao Program. It is about to call for tenders once it receives anticipated Government approval in July 2016 and the OK from the Filippino government. It is budgeting for a further $60million to be spent on the program.

http://dfat.gov.au/about-us/business-opportunities/tenders/Pages/peace-through-education-in-muslim-mindanao.aspx

The bulk of the background material seeking fresh tenders for the $60M program in Muslim Mindanao is waffle like this:

Malcolm must have let the TURC findings on widespread union corruption slip his mind because he's not against unions.

Turnbull's comment today is like a copper saying he is not against crime gangs.

Unreformed and left to operate in precisely the same way that produced the TURC evidence and findings - our unions stink.

They continue to call the shots in the Labor Party, selecting candidates and bankrolling the election of MPs who are beholden to unions - and the unions bosses get paid back in spades.

But Turnbull's not against things as they are.   If enough influential people like something, Turnbull likes it too.  It's hard to think of anything with a whiff of controversy or support that Turnbull's against.

After each Islamist terror attack, Turnbull's first step is to reassure Islamists that he loves them even more than before.  Even when Islamists are murderously anti-us, Turnbull is never anti them.

It's obviously the same with his mates in the cosy industrial relations club and the Labor Party.

And now at the end of a record length double dissolution election campaign - one he says was required to argue the case for reform of unions - Turnbull says he's not anti-union at all.

Stand for nothing, fall for anything.

I'm not anti-union: Turnbull

• AAP
• 7:55AM JUNE 29, 2016

Malcolm Turnbull insists he's not anti-unions and believes most construction workers are law-abiding and honest.

The prime minister has also defended the drawn-out election campaign saying it was needed to have a double-dissolution on important pieces of industrial relations legislation tackling union misbehaviour.

"This is not an anti-union issue, I don't have an ounce of ideology on this at all," he told Alan Jones on radio 2GB on Wednesday.

ENDS

The book on the abject absence of judgement in Turnbull's make up gets longer each day.

How far up himself is this bloke?

He wants to devolve London into its own special kingdom with himself as Emperor - maybe a Caliphate with him as Emir.   It's so important he gets the gig right now that he can't wait for negotiations.

Apparently if London remains a part of the UK, global businesses that trade in London will be unprotected from the uncertainty ahead.  Only a separate London run by him can save the world.

The Government must move fast on devolution for London. We can't wait for the outcome of negotiations pic.twitter.com/wS5TYDmn2N

— Mayor of London (@MayorofLondon) June 28, 2016

Wow. Footage shows one #AtaturkAirport attacker with rifle being shot by authorities before blowing himself up pic.twitter.com/WQHGgdQDoI

— Anna Ahronheim (@AAhronheim) June 28, 2016

Yesterday the US issued an upgraded travel warning advising against travel to Turkey.

US State Department just issued a travel alert to US citizens yday, warning about increased terror threats in Turkey pic.twitter.com/b6TEjH3QDA

— ilhan tanir (@WashingtonPoint) June 28, 2016

Today  28 people are dead  and more than 60 have been wounded in a coordinated attack against Turkey's Attaturk Airport.    2-3 suicide bombers armed with AK47s sprayed bullets before blowing themselves and others up.

This video captures one of the Islamic suicide bombers pink-misting.

Footage apparently capturing the moment of the explosion. Not graphic but disturbing nonetheless. pic.twitter.com/Y3TzrXIOzh

— reported.ly (@reportedly) June 28, 2016

More CCTV footage from inside #Istanbul's #AtaturkAirport shows moment of attack pic.twitter.com/W0IU5DsVwm

— Anna Ahronheim (@AAhronheim) June 28, 2016