"Prison" life seems to suit Michael Williamson and the family
Monday, 09 July 2018
Around $20M was improperly diverted from HSU members to enrich Michael Williamson and his family and friends during his reign at the HSU.
Williamson cut a deal with the HSU in which he acknowledged he owed it $5M.
He also cut a deal with his wife in which he shunted $1.5M in grossly over-generous superannuation "entitlements" to her, along with their property holdings on the NSW coast.
He cut a deal with police whereby he was the only one charged over his crimes.
He also went bankrupt so when he gets out the HSU won't come after him.
Now he's living the life of Reilly on taxpayers.
Here's The Australian with Brad Norington's article today:
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/industrial-relations/prison-life-not-so-bad-for-shamed-union-boss/news-story/4de6d85963e833d8573e87d892f75245
Prison life not so bad for shamed union boss
Michael Williamson looks tanned, fit and relaxed, the archetypal family patriarch posing for a snapshot with ex-wife Julie and their extended clan.
Sitting in the living room of his old Lake Macquarie waterfront retreat at Brightwaters, on the NSW central coast, Williamson wears a casual Ralph Lauren shirt and designer chino trousers, apparently marking the happy occasion of his 65th birthday.
It’s not the usual setting, nor the usual prison garb, for a man serving a 7½-year jail stretch ending in 2021 — or freedom at the earliest next March with parole.
But Williamson, who pleaded guilty to stealing $1 million from the membership dues of low-paid hospital workers when he was boss of the Health Services Union, appears to be serving out his time in style when not confined to a cell. Recently accepted for a prison day-leave program, which allows regular unescorted external leave, the man described by criminal court judge David Frearson as a “parasite” began his sentence at a correctional centre in Cooma, not far from the snowfields of southern NSW.
The six-hour road trip from her Lake Macquarie home was a long haul for Julie Williamson’s semi-conjugal visits to see her ex-husband. The routine did become easier, though. After Williamson spent time on low-security work gangs picking apples for farmers outside the Cooma prison walls, and lived on a nearby prison farm, he was moved to Cessnock jail in the Hunter Valley.
There's more at The Australian
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/industrial-relations/prison-life-not-so-bad-for-shamed-union-boss/news-story/4de6d85963e833d8573e87d892f75245