TWU slush fund bankrolled intervention in other unions, royal commission hears

By Ben Schneiders
Updated August 21 2014 - 7:18am, first published August 20 2014 - 7:30pm
Transferred money to another union: Transport Workers Union national secretary, Tony Sheldon. Photo: Janie Barett
Transferred money to another union: Transport Workers Union national secretary, Tony Sheldon. Photo: Janie Barett

A slush fund directed by national Labor vice-president and Transport Workers Union head Tony Sheldon spent more than $300,000 in just two years to bankroll interventions in three unions, the royal commission into union corruption has been told.

The financial details of slush fund the McLean Forum emerged on Wednesday as the TWU was accused by a former employee of spending its own resources in a union election - an act the commission heard would be against the law.

Former TWU media officer Michael Wong alleged he was paid by the NSW branch of the union while working on a campaign to unseat the TWU’s Queensland secretary Hughie Williams in 2010. 

Mr Wong said he was ‘‘notionally on annual leave’’ while campaigning. He called it "faked leave" and said some annual leave he had taken was later reimbursed when he shifted jobs.

‘‘Yes, it was retro-fitted to match everything up," he said.

A TWU spokesman attacked the credibility of Mr Wong's evidence.

A Fairfax Media investigation last November revealed the role of Mr Sheldon and the TWU leadership in a takeover of its own Queensland branch – with the backing of then HSU leader Michael Williamson – through the use of union funds, slush funds and union and Labor parliamentary staff.

The campaign was staffed in Brisbane by a team of interstate union and Labor operatives who rented a house in a Brisbane suburb.

The unseating of Mr Williams shifted the TWU’s factional support in Queensland from the Left to the Right faction.

The McLean Forum slush fund was also used to intervene in elections in the HSU and flight attendants' union, the inquiry heard.

Mr Sheldon’s former chief of staff, Daniel Mookhey, who was the co-ordinator of the Queensland campaign, estimated the McLean Forum spent $175,000 to $200,000 on the successful bid to remove Mr Williams.

Counsel assisting Jeremy Stoljar said the McLean Forum, which has three directors including Mr Sheldon, was set up as a ‘‘fighting fund’’ through contributions from union officials and staff in the TWU’s national and NSW offices.

‘‘One might expect that the McLean Forum’s monies would be spent on the election campaigns of its contributors. That is not the case,’’ he said. ‘‘This is a ‘fighting fund’ that appears primarily, if not exclusively, to fund candidates in other unions’ elections.’’

Documents at the royal commission also showed a number of large donations to the McLean Forum in recent years, totalling more than $60,000, including from law firm Maurice Blackburn.

Asked about a series of payments from the McLean Forum, Mr Mookhey said he used personal payments to manage cash flow for the forum. Documents produced by the commission show payments to reimburse Mr Mookhey $101,413, although the TWU disputes this figure.

Mr Mookhey said while he was appointed as co-ordinator, he had a less active role than that suggested.

He said there was a need for change in the Queensland branch, which he said had problems, and a need for the union to operate on a national basis.

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