HWU chief ‘threatened to kill’ whistleblower over expense claims

Embattled union boss Diana Asmar faces accusations she threatened to kill a key whistleblower and orchestrated the removal of a senior official as she fought attempts to investigate concerns about her management, including unauthorised spending.

The allegations against the Health Workers Union secretary, who is separately fighting the industrial watchdog over claims she misused millions of dollars, is made in documents filed by the Health Services Union’s national branch in the Federal Court as part of its legal push to have the HWU placed in administration.

Health Workers Union boss Diana Asmar has privately denied her involvement in a ghost printing scheme.Credit: Justin McManus

The documents, obtained by this masthead, detail a meeting between Asmar and top HWU officials where it is claimed Asmar also talked about sacking the same whistleblower or leaking “personal photos” of them to the media as revenge.

She is also claimed to have told the meeting, which was convened to consider allegations she had the authority to “do the f--- what she wanted”.

Asmar did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. While Asmar has stood down from her national positions, she has so far resisted calls to step aside from her role as the Victorian branch’s state secretary. She has privately rejected the misappropriation allegations levelled against her.

This masthead has chosen not to name the alleged whistleblower, a union employee, to protect their wellbeing.

The meeting where the threat was allegedly made was held just two days after the HSU’s national secretary accused Asmar of the misappropriation of union funds, a substantial breach of union rules, gross misbehaviour and gross neglect of duty, according to the court documents.

This masthead revealed several days later that the Fair Work Commission had launched legal proceedings against Asmar.

The commission alleges the union boss approved the payment of more than $2.7 million to a printing business that performed no service, with the money instead going into private accounts, and that more than $120,000 in reimbursements were claimed without evidence of relevant business expenses.

The HWU represents about 16,000 mostly low-paid health sector workers, although the HSU’s argument for administration is also partly based on claims the HWU’s membership has been mismanaged, meaning the number and identity of its members is uncertain.

The court documents also reveal accusations that Asmar and her supporters within the union sought to victimise another whistleblower, branch assistant secretary David Eden, after he sought to raise concerns about Asmar’s conduct.

In April, Eden was told to work from home and not contact any staff after he had sought to have material related to the commission’s investigation considered at a meeting of the union’s leadership.

The HWU is one Victorian branch within the national HSU, which is not subject to allegations. The HWU was approached for comment.

The HSU court claim alleges several senior members of the union had enabled Asmar’s misappropriation of union funds.

HSU national secretary Lloyd Williams said the HWU allegations were very serious.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

HSU national secretary Lloyd Williams said that the HWU allegations were extremely serious. The union’s national executive last month voted unanimously for the legal action.

“The HSU is committed to ensuring that the HWU Branch be returned to functioning effectively for the benefit of its members,” Williams said.

“It is crucial to emphasise that the allegations are isolated to the Victoria Health Workers Union branch and that the broader union’s work to tackle this challenge has been explicitly recognised by the Fair Work Commission.”

The Victorian branch is not the only union to be embroiled in recent turmoil.

Most of the CFMEU has been placed in the hands of an administrator over claims of corruption, intimidation and criminal infiltration revealed in a year-long joint investigation by this masthead, The Australian Financial Review and 60 Minutes.

The Albanese government’s move to place the construction union into administration, endorsed by peak body the Australian Council of Trade Unions, has sparked a bitter split between several large unions that recently spilled onto city streets with a national protest.

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