bigdog
Retired many years ago
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We need a new thread about Gillard after politics!
Will we ever get to know what really happened????
Ms Gillard has repeatedly and strenuously denied any wrongdoing in her role as a Slater & Gordon solicitor who helped Mr Wilson and Mr Blewitt establish the fund, called the AWU Workplace Reform Association.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...nt-on-slush-fund/story-fng5kxvh-1226680409694
Police quiz ex-AWU assistant on slush fund
by: Hedley Thomas
From: The Australian
July 17, 2013 12:00AM
A RETIRED union employee who helped transcribe dozens of taped conversations during dogged investigations of alleged AWU corruption is now helping detectives from Victoria Police in their probe into a union fund scandal still dogging Julia Gillard.
Detectives from the Fraud and Extortion Squad have been in Sydney to interview Wendy Pymont, personal assistant to Ian Cambridge when he was joint national secretary of the Australian Workers Union in 1995.
Ms Pymont has provided police with a detailed statement describing her role in the investigations by Mr Cambridge, who called for a royal commission into the suspected fraud at the time.
Ms Pymont, Mr Cambridge and the other former joint national secretary of the union, Steve Harrison, are giving key documents to Victoria Police as detectives prepare a brief of evidence about the conduct of two former union officials.
Ms Pymont said yesterday: "The police have asked me not to speak to any reporters and I don't want to put a spanner in the works."
In November last year, she told The Australian she was stunned at revelations that she was hearing about the union skulduggery being investigated in 1995 by Mr Cambridge. She added: "I have kept the work a secret all this time: until now, I have not told anyone except my husband.
"My computer had to be password-protected and nobody else in the office had access. I think some people should get what they deserve -- and sometimes I think it is best to let sleeping dogs lie."
Ms Pymont said yesterday: "My view that it should be investigated properly has not changed -- and that's what is now happening."
Mr Cambridge, a Fair Work Australia commissioner who issued a public appeal earlier this year for people with knowledge of the slush fund scandal to come forward to help Victoria Police, is understood to have given detectives his diaries and other material. He said yesterday he was unable to comment.
The two former union officials under intense focus in the police investigation are Ralph Blewitt, who has admitted to his involvement in union fraud and a slush fund, and his one-time boss, Bruce Wilson, who was Ms Gillard's boyfriend at the time. The slush fund was used by the two men to bill building company Thiess for hundreds of thousands of dollars for work that was not performed.
The Australian revealed last year the existence of the extensive diaries kept by Mr Cambridge and Ms Pymont. They included claims of a $5000 alleged payment that Mr Wilson instructed a union employee, Wayne Hem, to deposit in Ms Gillard's bank account. Other claims in Mr Cambridge's diaries related to union-funded renovations of Ms Gillard's house.
Ms Gillard has repeatedly and strenuously denied any wrongdoing in her role as a Slater & Gordon solicitor who helped Mr Wilson and Mr Blewitt establish the fund, called the AWU Workplace Reform Association.
She says she gave legal advice to help set up the association, which Mr Wilson later used to carry out the alleged fraud. She later described the association as a "slush fund" for the re-election of union officials, but said she had no knowledge of its operations.
Victoria Police, which has had a taskforce of detectives working on the AWU investigation since late last year, has repeatedly declined to comment on ongoing developments in the probe.
Will we ever get to know what really happened????
Ms Gillard has repeatedly and strenuously denied any wrongdoing in her role as a Slater & Gordon solicitor who helped Mr Wilson and Mr Blewitt establish the fund, called the AWU Workplace Reform Association.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...nt-on-slush-fund/story-fng5kxvh-1226680409694
Police quiz ex-AWU assistant on slush fund
by: Hedley Thomas
From: The Australian
July 17, 2013 12:00AM
A RETIRED union employee who helped transcribe dozens of taped conversations during dogged investigations of alleged AWU corruption is now helping detectives from Victoria Police in their probe into a union fund scandal still dogging Julia Gillard.
Detectives from the Fraud and Extortion Squad have been in Sydney to interview Wendy Pymont, personal assistant to Ian Cambridge when he was joint national secretary of the Australian Workers Union in 1995.
Ms Pymont has provided police with a detailed statement describing her role in the investigations by Mr Cambridge, who called for a royal commission into the suspected fraud at the time.
Ms Pymont, Mr Cambridge and the other former joint national secretary of the union, Steve Harrison, are giving key documents to Victoria Police as detectives prepare a brief of evidence about the conduct of two former union officials.
Ms Pymont said yesterday: "The police have asked me not to speak to any reporters and I don't want to put a spanner in the works."
In November last year, she told The Australian she was stunned at revelations that she was hearing about the union skulduggery being investigated in 1995 by Mr Cambridge. She added: "I have kept the work a secret all this time: until now, I have not told anyone except my husband.
"My computer had to be password-protected and nobody else in the office had access. I think some people should get what they deserve -- and sometimes I think it is best to let sleeping dogs lie."
Ms Pymont said yesterday: "My view that it should be investigated properly has not changed -- and that's what is now happening."
Mr Cambridge, a Fair Work Australia commissioner who issued a public appeal earlier this year for people with knowledge of the slush fund scandal to come forward to help Victoria Police, is understood to have given detectives his diaries and other material. He said yesterday he was unable to comment.
The two former union officials under intense focus in the police investigation are Ralph Blewitt, who has admitted to his involvement in union fraud and a slush fund, and his one-time boss, Bruce Wilson, who was Ms Gillard's boyfriend at the time. The slush fund was used by the two men to bill building company Thiess for hundreds of thousands of dollars for work that was not performed.
The Australian revealed last year the existence of the extensive diaries kept by Mr Cambridge and Ms Pymont. They included claims of a $5000 alleged payment that Mr Wilson instructed a union employee, Wayne Hem, to deposit in Ms Gillard's bank account. Other claims in Mr Cambridge's diaries related to union-funded renovations of Ms Gillard's house.
Ms Gillard has repeatedly and strenuously denied any wrongdoing in her role as a Slater & Gordon solicitor who helped Mr Wilson and Mr Blewitt establish the fund, called the AWU Workplace Reform Association.
She says she gave legal advice to help set up the association, which Mr Wilson later used to carry out the alleged fraud. She later described the association as a "slush fund" for the re-election of union officials, but said she had no knowledge of its operations.
Victoria Police, which has had a taskforce of detectives working on the AWU investigation since late last year, has repeatedly declined to comment on ongoing developments in the probe.
