1300 322 917
In dramatic news, Michael Williamson, the former head of HSU East, is facing a jail term of up to 30 years after pleading guilty to charges that include ‘defrauding his former union of close to $1 million’.
According to a report by the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday,
Williamson, 60, had been charged with more than 50 offences but those had been rolled into four major charges, Magistrate Graeme Henson was told at Sydney’s Downing Centre Criminal Court.
The 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.
In total, the four charges carry penalties in excess of 30 years’ imprisonment.
VHPA Secretary Craig McGregor has welcomed the news.
“The current leadership of the VHPA strongly supports the prosecution of all those who abused their positions within the HSU. There is no place for corruption within this or any other union.”
“Williamson’s guilty plea is a step in the right direction yet there is still a long way to go before we can put this sorry saga to rest. The case against former National Secretary Craig Thomson, for example, continues.”
“More relevant to our membership is the ongoing investigation into current National Secretary and former Victorian No. 3 Branch Secretary Kathy Jackson. We understand that the Fraud Squad has been interviewing former members of the Victorian No. 3 Branch Committee of Management about financial practices during Ms. Jackson’s leadership.
“The VHPA is of course cooperating fully with these investigations. And with the Union now on a sure footing we are launching a formal investigation into the financial practices of our predecessors. Any who are found to have abused their positions will be held accountable.”
“It is interesting to note that all pre-merger Vic No. 3 Branch Committee minutes are missing.
“These documents will assist in determining whether those Committees of Management that held office during Ms. Jackson’s reign endorsed expenditure of members’ money in a manner that was grossly inappropriate.”
“We have questions about expenditure that includes, but is not limited to, sojourns to the United States, China, Daylesford and a ski resort on Mt. Hotham; tens of thousands of dollars put towards ‘gifts’ and ‘donations’; expenditure at shoe shops and jewelry stores; trips to Spa Retreats; cheques for thousands of dollars made out to cash; and expenditure at a Las Vegas casino and at a Hong Kong based fine-wine cellar.”
“It is crucial that we get hold of the missing minutes; until we do we will not know what was approved and what was not. We will be keeping members informed as the investigation continues,” said Craig McGregor.
Missing document alert
Important Union documents including financial reports and management committee minutes from previous years are still missing.
The Victorian Police fraud squad, as part of their investigations into Kathy Jackson, is seeking all such documentation.
If you served in an official capacity with the Union prior to May 2010 and hold any copies of financial reports, statements or minutes please urgently contact the VHPA on 1300 322 917.
Timeline: how the HSU affair unfolded
Williamson apologises to HSU members
Following his guilty plea in the criminal matters against him, Michael Williamson has apologised “unreservedly” to the HSU and its members.
The apology was part of a $5 million settlement with the HSU NSW branch of its civil case against him.
According to Gerard Hayes, Secretary of HSU NSW, the settlement between Williamson and the Union involves:
- A $5 million Supreme Court Judgment against Williamson;
- Setting aside Williamson’s claimed pay rates back to 2003, which results in reducing the Union’s defined benefits superannuation liabilities to Williamson by approximately $1.1 million; and eliminating in excess of $600,000 worth of claimed leave entitlements;
- A written public apology from Williamson to all members and staff.
Media has reported that Williamson has declared himself bankrupt.
THis just makes my blood boil . I would like to see a system whereby only very restricted expenditure can happen . I am at a loss how spending money at a day spa or on shoes at a shoes shop could EVER be relevant to union business. Kathy Jackson is either an … [deleted for legal reasons] … If anyone knows where these minutes are then for goodness sake do the right thing and produce them.
I understand HSU NSW will be pursuing funds from Mr Williams from the sale of his house/assets etc. Is any of that cash likely to come back in our direction?
The HSU NSW won $5 million in its civil case against Williamson, but because he is bankrupt it is unlikely to get any money out of him. However it has saved HSU NSW $1.7 million in superannuation and other payments. The VHPA was not a party to this case.
In the timeline of events there is no mention of how all this came to light and who the people where that let the cat out of the bag reagarding Williamson. I personally recall Jackson having a big part in this. I do not know all the facts but I appreciate the hard work my former Branch 3 organiser did for my worksite. Please stop slandering all the former Branch 3 staff. Current VHPA staff, please do not push your individual views on members. Please stick to the facts as they emerge. Your communication so far has been super professional. Please don’t start reverting to the childish behaviour seen during the election campaign.
Dear Silvia, Thank you for taking the time to comment. We appreciate your thoughts and compliments and hope your find the following comments clarify a couple of matters.
You are correct, Kathy Jackson played a role in exposing Michael Williamson’s wrongdoing.
There is no slandering of former staff at all. In fact, there is no mention of former staff in the article. We can only assume that these comments pertain to the references the former Committees of Management (BCOM). This body is responsible for governing the Branch and is thus relevant to the piece. We certainly do not believe that we have slandered them. The expenditure referred to in the article is not speculative, it is well documented. Our feelings are that expenditure of this sort is, prima facie, inappropriate. However as the article makes clear, we will not be able to demonstrate if this expenditure was approved by BCOM until we have access to the missing minutes.
Thanks for keeping us informed. So hard to know what to believe with the Murdoch papers pushing their own agenda these days!!
Is there evidence of these cheques made out to CASH (!!) and other expenditure etc? Credit card statements? I don’t know why the union would need to buy shoes and jewellery!! Who allowed that to happen? Was that authorised? I’d be keen for more information. Happy to hear the cops are investigating the expenditure though. I agree with Marianne – if you have minutes, GIVE THEM UP. Otherwise you’re just as rotten. Do you have a list of people on the BCOM during that time?
And what has been put into place to stop this happening again? We put a lot of faith in Clean Sweep, how can we be sure this isn’t happening now?
Miles.
ps. Thanks for the report – got it in the mail! Good read and I put it in the tea room. Keep up the good work, everyone at work is talking about you and in much better terms than last year!
Thanks for your comment, Miles. Can assure you that this sort of thing can’t/ won’t happen again … check out our governance policies here http://vhpa.asn.au/about/governance/ and there’s a neat summary of the ‘clean sweep’ changes in the Special Report to Members.
We’ll be issuing more detail of the many cheques made out to cash, the personal expenses paid for by the union etc in the near future… so stay tuned!