[12][13] Following regulatory and administrative investigations, criminal trials and a subsequent appeal, on 15 December 2014 Craig Thomson, a former national secretary of the HSU and a former Labor politician, was found guilty in the Victorian County Court of thirteen charges of theft, and later convicted and fined A$25,000.
[6] An earlier independent report commissioned by the union detailed that companies associated with Williamson and his family had allegedly fraudulently received more than $5 million from HSUeast in the period from 2006 to 2011.
[21] Thomson started his career representing hospital and ambulance workers in New South Wales as an industrial officer for the HREA.
Williamson rose to prominence as an official of the HSU, representing the interests of low-paid workers in the health sector in New South Wales and then Australia.
[18][21] Jackson rose through the ranks of the HSUeast branch and its predecessors in Victoria, and was aligned with Labor's moderate Unity faction.
[21] In January 2008, members of the National Executive identified financial irregularities in Thomson's union credit card statement.
"[23] In December, the union engaged tax specialists BDO Kendall to "conduct an investigation" over the alleged improper use of Thomson's union-issued corporate credit card.
The Sydney Morning Herald revealed the allegations in April 2009; Thomson denied all wrongdoing and stated that an independent audit had not identified any inappropriate use of the card, noted that other people would have been able to incur charges on the account, and said the accusations had been fabricated by rivals within the HSU.
And for them to come out now and to say that I didn't put the report in in time when I actually followed their process is totally outrageous and scandalous on their part.Fair Work Australia, the federal workplace relations regulator and tribunal, conducted a three-year investigation into improprieties in the use of union funds involving both the Victorian No.
Within this report, 153 findings pertained to Thomson's breaches of union rules and sections 237(1), 285(1), 286(1), and 287(1) of Schedule 1 of the Workplace Relations Amendment (Registration and Accountability of Organisations) Act 2002 (Cth).
[34][35][36] In 2011 the Union Council of the HSUeast branch resolved to commence an investigation into the financial affairs of the branch; and sought counsel from the President of the New South Wales Bar Association to select an independent panel of experts to investigate:[37] Following an interim report delivered in April 2012 and a final report delivered in July 2012, Ian Temby AO QC and Dennis Robertson, an accountant, found that $20 million was paid by HSUeast without any form of tendering or contract.
[40][41] The report by Fair Work Australia (FWA) concluded that Thomson had spent almost $270,000 of union members' funds on his 2007 election federal campaign for Dobell.
[44] During Question Time on 16 August 2011, Prime Minister Gillard was asked if her confidence in Thomson was based on a thorough investigation of his credibility.
"[45] Gillard later moved to suspend Thomson from the Labor Party on 29 April 2012, saying "At the moment, Australian voters see a dark cloud over Parliament.
Michael Lawler the Vice President of FWA was involved in internal HSU politics at the request of his partner Kathy Jackson.
[53] Nassios, citing a newspaper report, stated $15,000 had been repaid by Jeff Jackson in settlement of three payments of $5,000 identified as "back pay" dishonestly claimed.
[54] When asked by Fair Work Australia to clarify if this claim pertained to Jackson, Thomson declined to provide any details, citing legal advice.
[55] On 15 October 2012 Fair Work Australia launched civil proceedings against Thomson related to his misuse of HSU funds.
The media report detailed that Williamson was a director of a computer company, United Edge, that provided information technology services to the HSUeast branch, without going to competitive tender.
[37][38][62][63][64][65] On 4 October 2012, Williamson was charged with more than 50 offences relating to fraud and obstruction of justice, and was suspended as director of United Edge.
[66] Appearing before the Sydney Magistrates Court on 15 October 2013, Williamson entered a guilty plea to four major charges related to cheating and defrauding the HSU East branch, creating false documents with the intention to deceive and the recruiting of others to hinder a police investigation.
[69] Following government action, the Federal Court of Australia removed the union's national executive and appointed judge Michael Moore as administrator.
Independent MP Tony Windsor flagged action along with Rob Oakeshott to increase Parliament's powers to deal with cases such as Thomson's.
[73] In April 2012 Thomson asked to be suspended from the Labor Party after a discussion with Gillard, and announced his intention to sit on the crossbench as an independent member of parliament.
[46] In a statement to the House on 21 May 2012, Thomson professed his innocence and used parliamentary privilege to name a number of individuals and claim that he was set up.