Expect some news about criminal proceedings in the AWU frauds shortly.

The next few weeks will be very busy.

To put the AWU Workplace Reform Association in perspective, we need to examine the history of Wilson/Gillard/Ludwig working together.

In 1989 Slater and Gordon started working for the AWU Victoria Branch.

By October 1989 Julia Gillard and Bruce Wilson were solidly working together in WA.

To understand the Gillard/Wilson relationship, it’s useful to look at a similar professional/personal/political relationship Gillard fostered with Rob Elliot and Kay Darveniza of the Health Services Union in 1989.

Here are some extracts from Rob Elliot’s statement exhibited by the TURC  

(Rob Elliot notoriously recanted para 56 in the witness box - I’ve spoken to him privately and he’s told me the contents of para 56 are accurate.  Make your own mind up about where you think the truth lies.)  

And here's the transcript of a brief part of Rob Elliot's oral examination at the TURC.

Q.   Could you come to paragraph 55 of the document,

        20       please.  Just to put it in context, you are describing here

        21       in this paragraph your dealings with other persons in or

        22       associated with the labour movement.  You are describing in

        23       particular some dealings that you had with Ms Gillard?

        24       A.   Yes.

        25

        26       Q.   You say in 55:

        27

        28            Ms Gillard was supportive of a

        29            'reform group' in which I was involved in

        30            the HSU in the late 1980s.

        31

        32       Who were the members of that reform group?

        33       A.   Well, a reform group I think, generally speaking in

        34       all unions, is pretty ill-defined.  It would at least,

        35       I think, include the candidates in an election, but

        36       probably more broadly their cadre of supporters.

        37

        38       Q.   Did that include Ms Darveniza?

        39       A.   Yes, she was a lead candidate.

        40

        41       Q.   This is in the late '80s?

        42       A.   '89 I think was the election.

        43

        44       Q.   '89.  You say:

        45

        46            Ms Gillard and Slater & Gordon became legal

        47            advisers to the ... No. 2 Branch ...

         1

         2       That was at about that time, was it?

         3       A.   Some time later.  I'm not quite sure when.

         4

         5       Q.  You say.

         6

         7            ... Ms Gillard continued to give, not just

         8            strictly legal advice, but also offered

         9            more general political counsel.

        10

        11       You mean to yourself and others?

        12       A.   Yes, sir.

        13

        14       Q.   You knew her personally, I take it?

        15       A.   I've known Julia since university days, yes.

        16

        17       Q.   You say:

        18

        19            It was generally understood that success

        20            for Ms Gillard's allies in union elections

        21            was of benefit to Ms Gillard's political

        22            career and, in turn, Ms Gillard's

        23            advancement would benefit those unions (and

        24            the union movement generally).

        25

        26       Just looking at that sentence a bit more carefully, you

        27       say, "It was generally understood", you mean among those

        28       with whom you were associating in the HSU?

        29       A.   That's generally understood in the labour movement.

        30       There are factions with the factual leaders and grandees.

        31       I was a member of a faction which included Ms Gillard.  It

        32       was widely accepted.  I mean, amongst a great number of

        33       people, Ms Gillard was a rising star.  As far as I  can

        34       remember, I was also of the belief that Ms Gillard would

        35       one day be Prime Minister.  There are some people who just

        36       strike you as being of that ilk.

        37

        38       Q.   You say:

        39

        40            It was generally understood that success

        41            for Ms Gillard's allies in union elections

        42            was of benefit to Ms Gillard's political

        43            career.

        44

        45       You mean because persons who had received the support of

        46       Ms Gillard in union elections would be able, in turn, to

        47       throw their support behind Ms Gillard in her political

         1       career?

         2       A.   That's the way it works in the Labor Party,

         3       Mr Stoljar.

         4

         5       Q.   You say it would also work the other way, Ms Gillard's

         6       advancement would benefit those unions?

         7       A.   I think that's correct.  That's also how it works in

         8       the Labor Party and I suspect every other political party.

         9

        10       Q.   Two way street?

        11       A.   Two way street.

EXTRACTS END

 

Note the mixture of professional legal advice and political machinations.

You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.

Stand by for some specifics from WA, the AWU, Bruce Wilson and Bill Ludwig dating from 1989.