West Australian on 6 March 1992 :
The Australian Workers Union (WA) Branch – Workplace Reform Association Inc.
Notice is hereby given that Ralph Blewitt of 138 Warwick Road, Duncraig, union official being duly authorised by the above Association intends to apply to the Commissioner of Corporate Affairs on or after 6 April 1992 for the incorporation of the Australian Workers’ Union – Workplace Reform Association Inc.
The Association is formed for the purpose of promoting and encouraging workplace reform for workers performing construction and maintenance work.
Julia Gillard in a meeting at Slater & Gordon with Peter Gordon (senior partner) and Geoff Shaw (general manager and partner) September 11, 1995:
It’s, it’s common practice, indeed every union has what it refers to as a re-election fund, slush fund, whatever, which is the funds that the leadership team, into which the leadership team puts money so that they can finance their next election campaign… The thinking behind the forming of incorporated associations is that … the problem developed that when the leadership team fractured, as relatively commonly happens, you got into a very difficult dispute about who was the owner of the monies in the bank account…
And the fund wasn’t for workplace reform or for a re-election, but it did buy Mr. Blewitt a house, tenanted by Ms. Gillard’s lover Bruce Wilson …
The transcript can be found in the Australian.
Paul Kelly, who famously asks his own questions, asks these …
First, the material published suggests that Gillard resigned under duress because the Slater & Gordon partners were no longer prepared to have her continue. Is this correct?
Second, what is Gillard’s explanation for the seemingly unusual way she established the Australian Workers Union Workplace Reform Association for Bruce Wilson, a union operative who was her boyfriend and client?
Third, given the alleged misappropriation of monies by Wilson from the entity established by Gillard, what was Gillard’s view of the purpose of the association? The stated objective was to receive funds from companies for safety and training of AWU members yet Styant-Browne said that in her interview Gillard referred to it as a re-election or slush fund. Is this true? If so, how is this reconciled with the declared purpose of the entity presumably as drafted by Gillard? At what time did Gillard become aware the association was being used for other purposes?
Fourth, is it correct, as stated by Gordon, that Gillard’s performance meant the partners felt she had displayed neither proper vigilance nor timely disclosure and, in the end, the relationship “had broken down irretrievably”? What responsibility does Gillard accept for this breakdown? Indeed, what might this breakdown tell us about Gillard?
bobmcgee 