HSU report vindicates tough stance: Labor

July 24th, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

The federal government says the latest report on corruption in the Health Services Union (HSU) shows it was right to call in an administrator and toughen the law for all trade unions.

But the opposition has used the leaking of the Temby report on the HSU East branch to again call on Labor to reject the vote of disgraced MP Craig Thomson.

The damning report, prepared by Ian Temby QC and accountant Dennis Robertson, found more than $20 million of questionable payments were made to suppliers without any form of tendering or contract.

It also shed further light on extravagant salaries, excessive credit cards claims, nepotism and poor governance.

Former HSU boss Michael Williamson’s 2011 salary was around $395,000.

“It’s clear there have been real problems at the Health Services Union, and that’s distressing to everyone who cares about working people getting decent representation from their trade union,” Prime Minister Julia Gillard told reporters in Sydney.

“But we’ve already acted by having an administrator appointed to the HSU. We’ve also already acted by toughening up penalties for trade unions and registered organisations through new legislation.”

The PM insisted the overwhelming bulk of trade unionists were decent people doing “a great and professional job”.

That was a point rammed home by Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten who said that while the situation within the HSU East branch was “completely abysmal” it wasn’t representative of the wider trade union movement.

Mr Shorten said the Temby report’s findings regarding excessive wages and conflicts of interest “vindicates the action the government took in April and May to put an administrator into the HSU East and to also change the laws covering registered organisations”.

The federal parliament passed new laws in late June forcing union officials to disclose their pay, increasing penalties for breaches and strengthening the powers of Fair Work Australia (FWA) to investigate misconduct.

Acting HSU national president Chris Brown says it’s now up to branch members to decide who leads the union.

“I’m hoping the members will make a wise decision and they’ll put in place a leadership which has the interests of the members and the union at heart,” he told ABC Radio on Tuesday.

But the opposition says the back-slapping by Labor is outrageous.

Senior Liberal Christopher Pyne says for Mr Shorten to expect applause for toughening standards “is insulting to the intelligence of the Australian voter”.

“The truth is the Labor Party knew about Craig Thomson and Mike Williamson and the HSU for years and years,” Mr Pyne told reporters in Melbourne.

“They re-preselected Craig Thomson again and again in spite of (that).”

Mr Pyne on Tuesday again called on Ms Gillard to “reject” Mr Thomson’s vote in the finely balanced lower house.

He said the embattled MP was Mr Williamson’s “protege” and the prime minister was relying on his vote to stay in power.

Mr Thomson was the general secretary of the HSU from 2002 until his election in 2007 and was the focus of a damning FWA report which said he misused union funds during that period – including on prostitutes.