Abbott says govt smear coming from within

AAP

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says Labor MPs – not coalition members – are behind the resurgence of claims against the prime minister dating back to her time as an industrial lawyer.

A former Slater & Gordon partner, Nick Styant-Browne, has alleged Julia Gillard resigned from the firm after an internal review of her work for allegedly corrupt former Australian Workers Union official Bruce Wilson.

Mr Wilson was her partner at the time as well as a legal client.

While the prime minister has denied any wrongdoing, she has declined to give a point-by-point explanation of the events.

Slater & Gordon managing partner Andrew Grech said in a statement that Ms Gillard had "co-operated fully with the internal review and denied any wrongdoing".

He said the review had "found nothing which contradicted the information provided by Ms Gillard at the time".

Ms Gillard resigned from the firm in May 1996 when she took up a job with the Victorian Labor opposition as an adviser.

Mr Abbott told reporters in Canberra, as parliament began four days of sittings, that Labor MP and former cabinet minister Robert McClelland had raised the matter in parliament.

"It's obviously ... a legitimate subject of media interest," he said.

However, he did not repeat his call for the prime minister to make a statement explaining herself to parliament.

With a Newspoll due to be released on Tuesday, and a Nielsen poll coming next week, government MPs accused the opposition of muckraking.

"This is completely a non-story and it's a demonstration of the desperation of this opposition that they want to muckrake, that they want to kick this story along," parliamentary secretary Mark Dreyfus told reporters.

Liberal senator Mitch Fifield said the coalition had nothing to do with any smear campaign.

"Every question, every bit of information on this matter, is coming from the Labor movement," he told Sky News.

http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Labor-behind-Gillard-smear-Ab...

They were bank accounts she opened, thats were the money was channelled into.

Gillard/AWU Time-bomb - Latest from Michael Smith

Michael Smith - a commentator courageous enough to put his job on the line - says that the authorities were deceived about the purpose of the sham not-for-profit entity, the "AWU Workplace Reform Association", which Julia Gillard set up for her boyfriend Bruce Wilson as well as Ralph Blewitt - the relevant document can be seen in this video.

Following on CANdo's recent explosive video interviews, Michael Smith refers to revelations in The Australian by a former law firm partner, including one that Ms. Gillard knew the fund was to ensure the re-election of union bosses - a "slush fund".

There are "hard questions" which Michael Smith says the Prime Minister must now answer.

But contrary to the Prime Minister's repeated claims, not one of the answers is on the public record.

These include the potential conflict of interest in acting for the two men and the AWU, that the AWU was unaware of the formation of the sham entity, that it was used for illicit purposes which included the purchase and renovation of a house on which Julia Gillard's firm acted without charge and provided a mortgage, and that the balance of the purchase price for the house was provided, not by a bank cheque as requested, but by a cheque from the sham entity in clear breach of its rules.

Distancing himself from rumour and innuendo by some internet bloggers, he stressed that everything he was saying was supported by clear evidence, and had been vetted by expert lawyers.

so how do you set up a slushfund???? if these are all in legal documents then they must still exist.along with the bank accounts..I expect even bank accounts I had years ago are still on record somewhereI find it really hard to believe this could not all be tracked down.

Well well, looky what we have here.

Mr Styant-Browne who first stated that Gillard was pushed due to her not being able to say if she benifited from the stolen money and due to her conduct in her work she had done for Wilson.

Now he gets this request.

He was told yesterday morning to return any documents in his possession about the matters involving Ms Gillard, Mr Wilson, and any legal files relevant to Ms Gillard's work for other union officials and the AWU.

The legal letter he received from Leon Zwier of Melbourne firm Arnold Bloch Leibler asked him to "treat this letter as a confidential communication between us ... Slater & Gordon is aware of recent media about the AWU/Bruce Wilson matter which attributes statements to you.

"I am instructed that you are in possession of confidential documents that are and always have been the property of Slater & Gordon.

"Please send them to me electronically. If they are hard copy documents only, please send them to my business address and do not retain a copy of them.

"For example I am also instructed that you have retained a number of Slater & Gordon documents concerning its legal review of the AWU/Bruce Wilson matter in general, and a purported transcript of an interview with Julia Gillard in particular.

"Slater & Gordon has not authorised you to discuss its contents with any party. Slater & Gordon is concerned that you may inadvertently have used its documents and confidential information in talking to the media. Would you please ensure that you do not do so.

"Slater & Gordon is also concerned that you may inadvertently have discussed with others the confidential (and personal and private) information of former employees.

Slater & Gordon partners turn on each other amid gag threat

SLATER & Gordon, whose internal 1995 probe resulted in Julia Gillard leaving her job at the law firm, is now trying to gag a former equity partner after he disclosed secrets concealed for the past 17 years.

After speaking out in The Weekend Australian about the circumstances of Ms Gillard's departure, Nick Styant-Browne received a legal letter yesterday from lawyers for Slater & Gordon and its former partner, Peter Gordon.

The letter to Mr Styant-Browne states: "These issues are serious and my clients and I genuinely hope that they can be resolved amicably, discreetly and quickly."

The Prime Minister has strenuously denied wrongdoing or knowledge of an alleged major union fraud involving her then boyfriend and client Bruce Wilson. Ms Gillard has repeatedly declined to answer specific questions about the legal work she did for him.

Ms Gillard left the firm as a partner in late 1995 as a result of the partnership's "very serious view" of her conduct involving Mr Wilson, who was a leader of the Australian Workers Union.

After the weekend revelations, Slater & Gordon, a long-time Labor-supporting firm listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, lent Ms Gillard support on Sunday with a statement that said she left to pursue a Senate role. Mr Styant-Browne, who lives in Seattle, yesterday accused his former employer of omitting facts with its Sunday statement about Ms Gillard's conduct and her departure.

He was told yesterday morning to return any documents in his possession about the matters involving Ms Gillard, Mr Wilson, and any legal files relevant to Ms Gillard's work for other union officials and the AWU.

The legal letter he received from Leon Zwier of Melbourne firm Arnold Bloch Leibler asked him to "treat this letter as a confidential communication between us ... Slater & Gordon is aware of recent media about the AWU/Bruce Wilson matter which attributes statements to you.

"I am instructed that you are in possession of confidential documents that are and always have been the property of Slater & Gordon.

"Please send them to me electronically. If they are hard copy documents only, please send them to my business address and do not retain a copy of them.

"For example I am also instructed that you have retained a number of Slater & Gordon documents concerning its legal review of the AWU/Bruce Wilson matter in general, and a purported transcript of an interview with Julia Gillard in particular.

"Slater & Gordon has not authorised you to discuss its contents with any party. Slater & Gordon is concerned that you may inadvertently have used its documents and confidential information in talking to the media. Would you please ensure that you do not do so.

"Slater & Gordon is also concerned that you may inadvertently have discussed with others the confidential (and personal and private) information of former employees.

"Would you please ensure that you do not do so."

Mr Styant-Browne told The Australian late yesterday: "When I made public certain of the matters surrounding Julia Gillard's departure from Slater & Gordon, I was meticulous to ensure a balanced account of the facts was given. I did not ever contemplate that the world's only publicly listed law firm, Slater & Gordon, would spin the facts of her departure to the market in the way that it did yesterday so as to protect the Prime Minister's position."

Slater & Gordon's statement on Sunday by managing director Andrew Grech said it was based on "records it now holds" and said that Ms Gillard "took a leave of absence in order to campaign for the senate" in September 1995.

"Ms Gillard's resignation from the firm became effective on 3 May, 1996, when, Slater & Gordon understands, she commenced employment with the then Victorian opposition leader as an adviser," Mr Grech said.

A spokesman for Ms Gillard told The Australian in reply to a list of questions on Friday: "The Prime Minister maintains good relations with Slater & Gordon. The Prime Minister has made clear that she was not involved in any wrongdoing, and has dealt with these allegations previously."

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/slater-gordon-partners-turn-on-...

i see his account has been shut down again, must really be hitting the nails on the head.

woof woof wrote on Aug 20^th, 2012 at 1:11pm:


Maybe they do. They don't have to tell us you know. Now if julian assange were on the problem . . . .. .

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uhh yeah of course it is. Why wouldn't it be? Especially since shes a lawyer.

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Because you lived @ the bank and it was part of your personal life?

My dad used to do my tax returns for me when i was younger. You see something wrong with that? (he was a lawyer). he also filed a workers comp thing for me when i was 17 and got me $700 for a broken leg.

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If its personal then of course shes hiding it from the public. Wouldn't you? Tell us all your business. Show us all your legal documents.

SOB