Re: peoples thoughts on mr thomson?????
Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 6:21 pm... and finally he's been charged. Significantly, Kathy Jackson hasn't escaped either.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/fair-work ... 6496425245
SUSPENDED Labor MP Craig Thomson has accused Fair Work Australia of being "pressured" after charges were laid against the MP in the latest setback for the Gillard Government.
Just days after Speaker Peter Slipper resigned in disgrace, FWA's decision to file civil charges in the Federal Court is another blow to the Government's credibility.
It comes as NSW and Victorian police are close to finalising their own investigations into Mr Thomson - and are considering whether to lay criminal charges against the former Health Services Union boss.
The FWA, which spent three years investigating Mr Thomson's lavish spending as HSU national secretary from 2002 to 2007, said it will be seeking “pecuniary penalties, as well as compensation” from the embattled MP.
Mr Thomson is accused of misusing his union credit card for cash advances without receipts, while the FWA also found the MP had splurged hundreds of thousands of dollars on prostitutes, air travel and other personal spending without authorisation.
The Prime Minister Julia Gillard, in late April, announced that Mr Thomson would step aside from the Labor Caucus and instead remain in parliament as an independent MP.
In a statement, the NSW MP said he had “always maintained my innocence in these matters and I continue to do so”.
"While I am disappointed, I am not surprised that Fair Work Australia has decided to go ahead with its claims,” he said.
"Clearly Fair Work Australia has felt pressured into responding this way given the political process which it is part of. Naturally I will vigorously defend these claims which are based on a totally discredited Fair Work Australia report."
After being criticised over the length of its inquiry, FWA found 105 contraventions of civil penalty provisions, and another 76 contraventions of union rules, allegedly committed by Mr Thomson, national secretary Kathy Jackson, then national president Michael Williamson, an auditor, and the union itself.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/fair-work ... 6496425245
SUSPENDED Labor MP Craig Thomson has accused Fair Work Australia of being "pressured" after charges were laid against the MP in the latest setback for the Gillard Government.
Just days after Speaker Peter Slipper resigned in disgrace, FWA's decision to file civil charges in the Federal Court is another blow to the Government's credibility.
It comes as NSW and Victorian police are close to finalising their own investigations into Mr Thomson - and are considering whether to lay criminal charges against the former Health Services Union boss.
The FWA, which spent three years investigating Mr Thomson's lavish spending as HSU national secretary from 2002 to 2007, said it will be seeking “pecuniary penalties, as well as compensation” from the embattled MP.
Mr Thomson is accused of misusing his union credit card for cash advances without receipts, while the FWA also found the MP had splurged hundreds of thousands of dollars on prostitutes, air travel and other personal spending without authorisation.
The Prime Minister Julia Gillard, in late April, announced that Mr Thomson would step aside from the Labor Caucus and instead remain in parliament as an independent MP.
In a statement, the NSW MP said he had “always maintained my innocence in these matters and I continue to do so”.
"While I am disappointed, I am not surprised that Fair Work Australia has decided to go ahead with its claims,” he said.
"Clearly Fair Work Australia has felt pressured into responding this way given the political process which it is part of. Naturally I will vigorously defend these claims which are based on a totally discredited Fair Work Australia report."
After being criticised over the length of its inquiry, FWA found 105 contraventions of civil penalty provisions, and another 76 contraventions of union rules, allegedly committed by Mr Thomson, national secretary Kathy Jackson, then national president Michael Williamson, an auditor, and the union itself.
