- Julia Gillard’s former lover Bruce Wilson has declared the Prime Minister knew nothing about a 1990s union fraud scandal.
Breaking his silence for the first time, the former Australian Workers Union boss said yesterday the PM knew absolutely, categorically nothing about the fraud.
Mr Wilson, who had a four-year relationship with Ms Gillard, said: “They can go on a witch-hunt for as long as they like, and they will find nothing that will do her (Gillard) any harm.
His revelations will help ease pressure on Ms Gillard, who has been under intense scrutiny about her alleged involvement in a union slush fund that was used to buy a Melbourne property, where Mr Wilson, her then boyfriend, lived.
A former state secretary of the AWU in WA and Victoria, he is the alleged mastermind behind a fraud that saw up to $1 million in union funds misappropriated between 1991 and 1995.
Mr Wilson yesterday also rounded on the union bagman, Ralph Blewitt, describing his former friend as a very risky person for Ms Gillard’s critics to rely on.
Mr Blewitt spent two hours with Victoria Police on Friday discussing his part in the fraud.
Referring to those who are pursuing the scandal, Mr Wilson said: “There is a group of people who are being funded by God knows who. Good luck to them.”
Ms Gillard, who provided legal advice to Mr Wilson between 1991 and 1995, has been under intense pressure to answer questions about her involvement in the provision of advice for the incorporation of the AWU Workplace Reform Association, which she later described as a slush fund. It was used to launder $400,000 of the $1 million misappropriated.
Yesterday, Mr Wilson said: “Whatever people are alleging is a nonsense.”
On Friday, Mr Blewitt, a confessed bagman, provided evidence to the Victoria Police Fraud Squad, who are considering whether to reopen the criminal investigation. He is also planning to speak with West Australian detectives about the alleged criminal behavior.
Mr Wilson is alleged by another AWU official, Wayne Hem, to have given him $5000 cash he said he won at a casino, and asked him to deposit the money in Ms Gillard’s bank account in mid-1995. Asked whether he had asked Mr Hem to do that, Mr Wilson said: “Look, it’s possible, but I don’t specifically recall.”
Ms Gillard, then a salaried partner at legal firm Slater & Gordon, provided legal advice to the AWU officials, including helping them to incorporate the AWU Workplace Reform Association.
Of the continuing inquiries into the affair, Mr Wilson said: “I would have thought those police have better things to do with their time.”
His declarations came as Opposition leader Tony Abbott denied there was a smear campaign against the Prime Minister, and claimed that she had questions to answer when Parliament resumes tomorrow for the final sitting of 2012. “These are serious matters,” Mr Abbott said.
But Treasurer Wayne Swan defended Ms Gillard, attacking the character of Mr Blewitt and insisting his stories had little credibility – Steve Lewis
