Thomson 'spent HSU cash on electioneering'
Federal MP Craig Thomson spent almost $500,000 of union members' funds on escorts, cash withdrawals, meals and electioneering, including $1425 after he became a Labor MP, a report by Fair Work Australia (FWA) alleges.
The 1100-page report of FWA's investigation into the Health Services Union (HSU), which was led by Mr Thomson between 2002 and his election to parliament in November 2007, was tabled in federal parliament on Monday evening.
Mr Thomson, who has stood aside from the Labor caucus to sit as an independent while the matters are resolved, is expected to face charges of three contraventions of workplace laws in the Federal Court in relation to $5793 spent on escort services.
FWA Investigator Terry Nassios found that while Mr Thomson denied the escort payments, "the preponderance of evidence is such that I can only conclude that it was indeed Mr Thomson who used his credit card ... for the procurement of escort services."
The investigation found a total of 181 contraventions of the Fair Work Act and union rules, of which 156 relate Mr Thomson and include 98 that could attract fines if proven in court.
However, FWA did not find any criminal behaviour that could have attracted a jail sentence of a year or more, an outcome that would disqualify Mr Thomson from parliament and potentially bring down the Labor minority government.
Mr Thomson said in a statement he would defend all allegations and denied any wrongdoing.
He also attacked FWA for being unfair in its investigation - which started as an inquiry following media reports about him in April 2009 - and breaching its own legislation.
The other investigation findings relate to current HSU officials Kathy Jackson and Michael Williamson, as well as auditor Iaan Dick and the HSU national office itself.
The report found multiple failings regarding the union's financial controls, including a lack of rules governing credit card use, no proper auditing and officials' wages being set without checks by the union's national bodies.
Mr Thomson is alleged to have spent more than $71,000 in HSU funds on his campaign for the federal seat of Dobell, as well as almost $200,000 on national office staffers connected to his campaign.
After being elected, he charged $1425 to two union credit cards for meals and taxis.
Between 2002 and 2007, he made more than $103,000 in cash withdrawals on a CBA Mastercard, not all of which could be shown to have been for "legitimate union purposes", the report said.
And not all of $73,849 spent on credit cards for dining or entertainment between 2002 to 2007 was for legitimate union purposes, it said.
Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten said the report was "disturbing".
He said the conduct of HSU officials referred to in the FWA report had "no place in a modern, democratic and honest trade union movement".
"I must say I find the findings of the report disturbing," Mr Shorten told reporters in Canberra on Monday.
"I find them extremely disappointing as a former union official."
Prime Minister Julia Gillard told her Labor caucus on Monday, in a veiled reference to the HSU affair, that Labor believed a "worker's dollar" should be used properly, be it by the government, unions or business.
Opposition workplace spokesman Eric Abetz told reporters the length of time FWA had taken to investigate the matter showed the tribunal - created by Ms Gillard - was engaged in an "institutional go-slow" and there had been political interference by the government.
But Mr Nassios said in the report that allegations of interference or deliberate delaying were "baseless".
FWA has commissioned consultants KPMG to conduct a review of the way in which the investigation was conducted, including the allegations of bias and political interference, and report the result in July.
The FWA report released on Monday is now in the hands of the Victorian and NSW police after it was referred to them by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.
Mr Thomson later took to Twitter to criticise the report.
"Allegations that aren't supported by evidence and not interviewing at least 6 key witnesses," he tweeted.
"Part of the reason FWA got it wrong after 4 yrs."
Brought to you by