CASE TO ANSWER: Prosecutors called in to investigate Thomson report
Nick Efstathiadis

By Malcolm Farr, National Political Editor

From: news.com.au

April 03, 2012 5:00PM

  • Fair Work Australia forwards HSU report to prosecutors
  • Thomson credit card transactions covered in investigation
  • "I maintain my innocence and will continue to do so"

Craig Thomson

The FWA investigation looked at the union's financial management under Craig Thomson. Picture: File Source: The Daily Telegraph

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COMMONWEALTH law officials will decide if criminal charges can be laid against Labor MP Craig Thomson and other former and current officials of the controversial Health Services Union.

The confidential 1100-page report names three former or current officials of the union and an individual who was not an official.
Credit card transactions by Mr Thomson, a former national secretary of the HSU, were covered by the three-year investigation.
“I maintain my innocence and will continue to do so,'' Mr Thomson said in a statement.
“I will also continue to fully cooperate with any further investigations relating to this matter.”
FWA general manager Bernadette O'Neill confirmed in a statement she had “referred the entire investigation report” to the Commonwealth DPP.
“I am satisfied that the report raises many significant matters which may be appropriate for the DPP's consideration,'' Ms O'Neill said.

She made no judgement on “any particular likelihood of criminal conduct, as that is a matter for the DPP”.
If the DPP decides criminal laws have been broken it could cause charges to be brought against Mr Thomson and others.
And if the MP was convicted on a charge which potentially carried a jail term of one year or more, he could be forced to leave Parliament.
However, it also is possible that breaches by Mr Thomson were in civil law and his place as an MP would not be affected.
Even if criminal charges were involved, the court process probably would not be over before the election scheduled for late next year.
In 2008 the HSU commissioned legal advice on Mr Thomson's use of a credit card amid allegations he had used them to pay for escort services and to make cash withdrawals.
The fate of the allegations was highlighted after the 2010 election and the creation of a Labor minority government, which would have been vulnerable to collapse if it had lost Craig Thomson and its numbers in the House of Representatives.
Fair Work Australia, the national guardian of workplace laws, launched an investigation more than three years ago into the national and Victorian branches of the union.
The FWA report, delivered on March 28, did not identify any alleged breaches of criminal law, but detailed what it called 181 contraventions of Schedule 1 to the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (the RAO Schedule).
It said that of the 181 alleged breaches, 105 related to civil penalty provisions of the RAO Schedule.
This meant that FWA stuck to issues of compliance with workplace laws and its own rules governing registered union and employer groups, and did not attempt to point directly to claims of criminal breaches.
Ms O'Neill said she would determine what other action should be taken, including whether proceedings should be commenced in the Federal Court of Australia.
This would be done “as soon as practicable”.
She defended Fair Work Australia's decision not to reveal details of the investigation to NSW and Victorian police, saying the decision, which was attacked by the Federal Opposition, was made on legal advice.
“I have always sought to cooperate with police to the extent that would be consistent with my powers and functions as General Manager,'' Ms O'Neill said.
She said that on March 9 she sought updated legal advice as to whether it would be open to her to disclose information obtained in the investigations to police once the investigation was concluded.
“The comprehensive opinion I have received from the Australian Government Solicitor advises against disclosure of information to state police,'' she said.
“Rather, it advises that the appropriate course is to refer matters to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions for action in relation to criminal offences (including under state laws), which I have done.''
The advice provided was prepared by Robert Orr SC, Chief General Counsel of AGS, and Charles Beltz, Counsel, of AGS.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott demanded Fair Work Australia make the full report public or face claims it is protecting the Gillard Government.
“The Australian public have a right to know if a member of the House of Representatives has been referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions,” Mr Abbott said.
“If the full report is not released immediately, it will further increase community suspicion that Fair Work Australia is working to protect the Gillard Government.
“The Prime Minister must state if she continues to have full confidence in Mr Thomson and must answer whether Mr Thomson is now the subject of a reference to the Director of Public Prosecutions.”

CASE TO ANSWER: Prosecutors called in to investigate Thomson report | News.com.au

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