Slush fund official was a 'stooge', say documents

DOCUMENTS show Ralph Blewitt, who has admitted to fraud with a slush fund connected to Julia Gillard, was regarded as an "imbecile".

A UNION official's claims that he was a stooge at the time sham transactions were made with a slush fund that Julia Gillard helped establish in 1992 are supported by internal documents.

The documents show that Ralph Blewitt, who has admitted to fraud with the slush fund, the Australian Workers Union Workplace Reform Association, was even regarded as an "imbecile" by his AWU colleagues in Perth.

One of Mr Blewitt's fellow AWU officials at the time, Sue Ellery, described him as an "idiot" and a "sexist pig" in documents filed in the Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission in 1993.

The record of a secret AWU branch meeting in Perth in June 1993 states that Ms Ellery said: "Ralph is a sexist pig and I can't tolerate it any longer. Whether I have a job to go to or no job, I have to seriously consider whether I'll stay with the union if Ralph is to stay where he is."

The document quotes Ms Ellery adding: "As far as I'm concerned, Bruce Wilson's a liar and I couldn't trust him any more. I would have to reassess my position here even if Bruce Wilson came back."

Ms Ellery, now a state Labor MP, declined to comment yesterday, as did Mr Blewitt.

The documents from 1993 were well known to Ms Gillard, then an industrial lawyer for Slater & Gordon, as they were evidence in a legal case in which she was representing Mr Blewitt. The legal case in the commission revolved around a challenge by one of the union dissenters, Mick Baker, whose employment was terminated by Mr Blewitt.

Ms Gillard's letters and other documents are on the legal file, which has been archived in the State Records Office in Perth and inspected by The Australian.

Mr Blewitt has told The Australian that he took his instructions at the time from Ms Gillard's then boyfriend, Bruce Wilson, who had moved to Victoria to be AWU secretary and appointed him to run the Perth branch from early 1993.

Mr Blewitt, who has pledged to provide information to authorities in return for indemnity from criminal prosecution, added that he was a "useful idiot", and loyal to Mr Wilson at the time.

Ms Gillard's view of Mr Blewitt -- made when she was being questioned on September 11, 1995 by Slater & Gordon's senior partner, Peter Gordon, during an internal probe into fraud claims and the slush fund -- was that while he was boastful, it had "all made, you know, relatively sort of sensible sense that there was this man who had some money", which he used to buy a $230,000 Melbourne investment in March, 1993.

About $100,000 from the fund went into the Melbourne property, bought in Mr Blewitt's name for Mr Wilson's use.

Another official, Colin Saunders, told the AWU meeting in 1993 that Mr Blewitt was "an idiot and couldn't do the job", and if he continued as branch secretary the workers would be sold out. Mr Baker said Mr Blewitt was a "complete imbecile" who was getting worse in his union role. A fourth official, Henry Rozmaniek, said Mr Blewitt was a liar.

The Prime Minister, who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, said two months ago that she provided legal advice for the slush fund's establishment but knew "absolutely nothing about its workings" until serious allegations were raised in 1995.