Kathy Jackson partner ‘benefits’ stirs HSU

HSU boss Chris Brown says that Michael Lawler should be ‘held to account’ if he knowingly benefited from misappropriated union money.

Health Services Union boss Chris Brown says that Fair Work Commission vice-president Michael Lawler should be “held to account” if he knowingly benefited from union money misappropriated by his partner Kathy Jackson.

Mr Lawler’s boss, FWC president Iain Ross, is expected to ­deliver a statement before a Senate committee tomorrow responding to concerns about Mr Lawler, who took nine months’ sick leave from his $435,000 job on full pay to conduct demanding legal work for Ms Jackson.

The Employment Minister, Michaelia Cash, has also told former Federal Court judge Peter Heerey — who is conducting the independent investigation into Mr Lawler — to conclude his report by the end of the year.

Opposition workplace relations spokesman Brendan O’Connor expressed concern that the terms of reference for the review made no mention of Mr Lawler’s possible benefit from the $1.4 million found to have been misused by Ms Jackson.

The inquiry has been tasked with considering whether there is any rationale for both houses of parliament to consider requesting the Governor-General remove Mr Lawler from his position.

The possible benefit to Mr Lawler arising from the misappropriation of union funds by his partner was first raised in The Weekend Australian in August, when concerns were raised by the HSU over profits from the 2008 sale of Ms Jackson’s home being sunk into a NSW south coast residence shared with Mr Lawler.

GALLERY: Lawler-Jackson — the key players

Mr Brown told The Australian yesterday that he believed Mr Lawler had not ruled out the possibility of Ms Jackson misusing union money in the wideranging comments he gave to the ABC’s Four Corners program.

“If at the time he was aware that money was misappropriated then he should be held to account,” Mr Brown told The Australian. “In the interview (on Monday night), he at least left the door open to the fact that she may have misappropriated or misused union funds. But what Mr Lawler thinks about that is irrelevant because we’ve got a Federal Court judgment.”

Ms Jackson has been ordered by the Federal Court to repay $1.4m she was found to have misappropriated from the union. She is seeking to proceed with an appeal against elements of the case.

The Four Corners program ­revealed Mr Lawler made secret recordings of conversations with Mr Ross, which he says will vindicate his decision to take sick leave to assist Ms Jackson.

An industrial relations expert at the University of Adelaide, ­Andrew Stewart, said Mr Lawler appeared to have made conflicting statements about whether his leave was due to ill-health or to ­assist Ms Jackson.