The Source: Victorian public sector union election has swerved into Underbelly territory, as challenger refunds ‘Gatto’ donation

A Victoria union election thought to be as exciting as an episode of Question Time has taken a twist, with a candidate revealing she rejected a $1000 donation from someone calling themself “Mick Gatto”.

CPSU secretary Karen Batt with Victorian Trades Hall Council Secretary Luke Hilakari.

A Victorian union election has strayed into Underbelly territory after a candidate revealed she rejected a $1000 donation from “a Mick Gatto”.

Department of Justice project officer and self-proclaimed socialist Jiselle Hanna, who is trying to unseat veteran Community and Public Sector Union secretary Karen Batt, told colleagues she didn’t know if the cash came from the boxer-turned-mediator, but that she had refunded the pledge immediately back through the group’s fundraising website.

The fundraising fail was exposed by union members working in prisons, who questioned whether Hanna’s group had forged links with the infamous Carlton identity who is now a construction industry mediator.

Ms Hanna insists her “voice for members” group seeking to take control of the CPSU had no affiliation with Mr Gatto, and that the funds were received via a fundraising platform called Chuffed.

“We didn’t request it, we didn’t know it was coming, and we refunded it as soon as we saw it,” she told Department of Justice colleagues on an online chat group, leaked to the Herald Sun.

A donation from someone called “Mick Gatto” was made to Jiselle Hanna’s campaign. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

So, could Gatto be trying to arm the rebellion taking on the CPSU establishment?

Mr Gatto, who was acquitted of the 2004 murder of hit man Andrew Veniamin on the grounds of self-defence, was interstate when approached by the Herald Sun and declined to comment.

Eagle-eyed Spring Street watchers have reached for the popcorn, enjoying the fact a union showdown they thought would be about as exciting as an episode of Question Time had suddenly swerved into Underbelly territory.

Multiple sources say Batt, who has held the CPSU secretary role for more than three decades, has been marshalling the troops to defend her turf from challengers, who some allies refer to as “the Trots”.

Socialist and left wing publications have been fawning over Hanna, who in 2023 told a community radio program that capitalism “is a system of economic management that is brutal and broken” and that it needs to be “smashed”.

Her campaign also has the support of well-known Socialists such as Victorian Senate candidate Jordan van dem Lamb, whose online alias is “Purple Pingers”.

The battle of the lefties comes amid a review of the public service by former Department of Premier and Cabinet boss Helen Silver, which is likely to recommend sweeping cuts to jobs, which have ballooned in the public sector in recent years.

Adding fuel to the union election fire is looming budget pain, including the revelation that dozens of Government programs are at risk of lapsing without renewed funding.

Hanna told the Herald Sun that her team’s campaign donation page did receive a donation from someone called “Mick Gatto” but they have no connection to anyone of that name.

“As soon as we became aware, we instantly arranged for this transaction to be reversed and refunded,” she said.

“We can’t say exactly who made the donation or why.”