Union royal commission: NUW boss Derrick Belan hired PI to watch ex-partner

The bill for surveillance of NUW boss’s ex-partner was paid by a labour hire firm with links to the union, inquiry hears.

Former NSW secretary of the National Union of Workers Derrick Belan hired a private investigator to watch his ex-partner.

Former National Union of Workers boss Derrick Belan travelled to Canberra with labour hire executives to “network” with politicians and dine at Parliament House with the business picking up the tab for his luxury accommodation, the trade union royal commission has heard.

Ross Shrimpton, founder of the publicly listed labour hire and training firm Ashley Services Group, also paid a $17000 bill for a private investigator that Mr Belan used to spy on his ex-partner during a custody dispute over their young daughter, the inquiry heard today.

The revelations follow days of evidence presented to the inquiry of lavish spending on union credit cards for “personal” use, allegedly by Mr Belan, who resigned as secretary of the NUW’s NSW branch last month, and his niece, the union’s bookkeeper.

Ashley Services, which has suffered sharp share price falls and issued a profit warning less than a year after its public offering last August, paid for Mr Belan to stay in the diplomatic suite of the Hyatt on a trip to Canberra in March, the company’s head of labour hire Paul Rixon testified today.

Mr Belan also visited the capital city with Mr Rixon in 2012.

The royal commission is investigating if “corrupt” payments or rewards were given to Mr Belan by Ashley Services, senior counsel assisting the commission Sarah McNaughton said this week.

Mr Rixon said the Canberra visit this year was for “to do some networking.

“I had an issue or an industrial issue that I wanted to get some clarity on in regards to ... compliance discussions that were being discussed at that time whether they were going to impact on our business or not.

“Derrick suggested he would know some people that we could talk to … one of the other things that was going to happen was that Derrick was going to (arrange) for us to have dinner at Parliament House which I was quite excited about”.

Mr Rixon also arranged for Mr Belan to use a private investigator.

“He was very concerned for … the safety of his youngest daughter, he believed that his youngest daughter was being left in attendance with other younger children whilst his ex-partners was going out of an evening and coming home very late”, Mr Rixon said.

Mr Shrimpton paid the bill out of a personal loan facility in his wife’s name and told the inquiry he expected Mr Belan to repay the $17000 once he is “on his feet”.

“It is my nature to assist people where I can”, Mr Shrimpton said.

The National Union of Workers was dominant at up to 70 per cent of worksites that Ashley Services provided casual workers to through its labour hire companies, Mr Shrimpton said.

Mr Shrimpton, who did not join Mr Belan on Canberra visits, said he approved the trips which were to “meet government and opposition figures who were decision-makers in relation to industrial relations issues ... It was in the company’s interest that we were to meet the people that Derrick had contact with”.

Former Labor minister and Opposition Leader Simon Crean quit the board of Ashley Services last month Group chairman Peter Turner and a third independent director, Vincent Fayad have also exited the company in recent weeks.

Mr Belan was summonsed from a psychiatric hospital to ­attend the commission this week but was excused from giving evidence on medical grounds and ordered to appear before the commission on Tuesday.

Earlier, NUW NSW communications officer Mark Ptolemy told the inquiry he was “shocked” to learn of allegations branch credit cards had been misused.