Slush fund story now 'over' says Burke

[mellie]

A statement by Julia Gillard's ex-boyfriend that she knew 'absolutely nothing' about fraud within the Australian Workers' Union (AWU) in the mid-1990s means the story should now be over, a senior Labor MP says.

Environment Minister Tony Burke argues it's time for the opposition to stop 'beating up' the story concerning the prime minister's involvement in setting up a slush fund for union officials, including former boyfriend Bruce Wilson, 17 years ago.

'From what I've looked at in today's papers, it's story over,' Mr Burke told ABC TV on Sunday.

Continues.....

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStor ... 20005.html


___________________________________________

Tell me, why is it story over when it suits Labor politicians past indiscretions, though not story over when they want to dish up the dirt on Tony Abbott and the stories they told about his past?

Eg, the alleged wall hitting incident.

[Jovial Monk]

Why did you have to start a new thread, you fucking lunatic?

[mellie]

Why did you have to start a new thread, you fucking lunatic?

Why did you have to go and suck the guts out of that Katoomba handbag (wine cask) you cirrhotic old tard?

[mellie]

Questions still left unanswered....

Wilson's testimony is helpful to Gillard if you trust the word of a conman who swears he's this time telling the truth about a former girlfriend who three months ago claimed he'd deceived her about a series of matters.

But it still doesn't help Gillard answer most of the questions put to her about her dubious conduct in the 1990s as a partner in law firm Slater & Gordon.

These questions include:

WHY did Gillard help to register Wilson's personal slush fund as something it was not - a non-profit association allegedly dedicated to workplace reform?

WHY did she help to register this slush fund as the Australian Workers Union Workplace Reform Association when she should have known it was not an association of the AWU?

WHY did she not notify her firm's principal client, the AWU, she had used its name in the title of Wilson's slush fund?

DOES she agree with her Workplace Relations Minister, former AWU secretary Bill Shorten, the creation of this association was unauthorised and inappropriate?

WHY did she keep this work secret from other Slater & Gordon partners?

WHY did she not alert the AWU or police when she realised Wilson's slush fund had been used to commit fraud?

CAN she still rule out receiving any slush fund money? Can she explain the $5000 allegedly deposited in her account on Wilson's instructions?

HAS she ever repaid money to the AWU for work done on her home?

Gillard insists she did nothing wrong.

More than Wilson's say-so is needed to prove it.


http://www.heraldsun.com.au/opinion/que ... 6523802696

[AnimalMother]

It's "over" because a Labor MP says it's over?

That's the lamest excuse yet.

It's over when we find out exactly how much Gillard knew about the scandal.

[Super Nova]

I liked the statement in the link.

HOW kind of conman Bruce Wilson to finally give a character reference for his former girlfriend and lawyer, Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

"(She) knew absolutely, categorically nothing," the former Australian Workers Union boss said of Gillard's knowledge of his alleged frauds.

I am convinced

[AnimalMother]

If you can't trust the word of a convicted fraudster, who can you trust?

[mellie]

Ahead of watching Question time on ABC1 today at 2pm, read the following.

http://www.news.com.au/national/julia-g ... 6524034807

There is a reason why Gillard is stonewalling and plotting an opposition counter-attack ahead of Question Time today.

Our media have only scratched the surface, there's far more to this AWU affair than whats already been revealed by the media to the general public, and Gillard knows her days, hours are numbered.

What else is she worried about coming out of the wood-work I wonder?

[mellie]

Friday, November 23, 2012 12:48 PM EST
AWU Melbourne Property Scandal: PM Julia Gillard Reiterates Stance
By Erik Pineda

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has denied reports she was aware of a Melbourne property that was bought on money allegedly pilfered from union coffers, insisting that her role as lawyer for the Australian Workers Union (AWU) was strictly on setting up its 'slush fund'.

Ms Gillard maintained too that she was out of the loop regarding the activities of AWU officials Bruce Wilson and Ralph Blewitt, the former her boyfriend while a salaried partner of law firm Slater & Gordon, and therefore was unaware of any wrongdoing committed by the two.

The prime minister was reacting to claims by Nick Styant-Browne, her former colleague at Slater & Gordon, that she had knowledge of the transactions that allowed Messrs Blewitt and Wilson to acquire a property in Fitzroy, Melbourne some time in 1993.

In an interview with ABC Thursday night, Mr Styant-Browne revealed that Ms Gillard "personally arranged for the mortgage insurance for the Kerr Street property through the Commonwealth Bank and the letter was faxed to her on March 22, 1993, from the Commonwealth Bank marked for her attention noting that the insurance had been renewed."

Documents made public by Fairfax showed a letter from Commonwealth Bank purportedly advising Ms Gillard that the purchased "building/s are insured for $200,000 with the Commonwealth Bank Insurance Scheme and the policy is renewed until 18th March, 1994."

The same letter also suggested that Ms Gillard had an active role on the whole transactions, belying her insistence during an internal Slater & Gordon probe on the matter in 1995 that "I didn't have any recollection of (the deal)."

"Those documents show is that there is no doubt Ms Gillard knew of the mortgage from Slater & Gordon in March 1993," Mr Styant-Browne told ABC last night.

But a statement from Ms Gillard also pointed to the released documents, which proved that it was Mr Blewitt alone who was "personally attending to dealing with the Commonwealth Bank about the certificate of currency."

The prime minister's office confirmed too that it was Slater & Gordon which had handled the conveyancing of the Melbourne property but was assigned to a paralegal named Olivia Brosnahan, whose handwritings appeared on the documents provided by Mr Styant-Browne.

"Ms Gillard has no recollection of seeing the correspondence from the Commonwealth Bank dated 23 March 1993. Ms Gillard stands by her statements in the Slater & Gordon interview of 11 September 1995 as her best recollection of events 2½ years earlier. There is no contradiction in anything," the prime minister's statement was reported by The West Australian as saying on Friday.

With the resurgence of the issue, the Coalition is expected to press on Ms Gillard to explain further on the matter during the Parliament's final sitting for the year.

Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey said this significant issue deserves a formal inquiry in order for the public to know if the prime minister indeed was telling the truth the first she addressed questions on her dealings with AWU.

"People are raising these issues because they are saying that the prime minister's story has been entirely inconsistent," Mr Hockey was quoted by the Australian Associated Press (AAP) as saying.

http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/407743/2 ... LK604frxYw


Apparently Gillard doesn't recall?

[Aussie]

If you can't trust the word of a convicted fraudster, who can you trust?

Who are you referring to, Wilson or Blewitt?