doctors4health – AMA NSW

The ABC is reporting: “The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has found that most of the union funds spent on Craig Thomson’s electoral campaign were disclosed appropriately.”

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The Daily Telegraph is reporting: “THE Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has cleared embattled MP Craig Thomson of most of the allegations of dodgy election funding but is investigating more than $17,000 in election spending.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “The bulk of the Health Services Union funds spent on Craig Thomson’s bid for the NSW seat of Dobell was spent within electoral reporting guidelines.”

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The Australian is reporting: “PETER Slipper, who has stepped out of the Speaker’s chair while sexual harassment and Cabcharge rorting allegations against him are resolved, would still decide whether Craig Thomson should face a parliamentary privileges committee investigation into his declaration that the Labor Party paid his legal fees in the Health Services Union scandal.”

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The Australian is reporting: “JULIA Gillard has warned that corruption within the HSU risks tarnishing the reputation of the trade union movement and has expressed her dismay and disgust that working Australians have been let down.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “The Health Services Union East branch has asked the Industrial Court of NSW to urgently hear its application for an administrator to take control of its affairs.”

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The Australian is reporting: “NSW government lawyers today intervened in the state’s Industrial Court to block the allegedly corruption-ridden Health Services Union East branch from choosing how it will be placed in administration.”

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The Australian is reporting: “THE Health Services Union’s East branch has voted to ban the union’s national secretary Kathy Jackson from speaking at the conservative industrial relations thinktank, the HR Nicholls Society.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “THE Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has expressed disgust and dismay at the alleged misdeeds of Health Services Union officials, including the former Labor MP Craig Thomson, saying the scandal risked blackguarding the entire trade union movement.”

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Political Editor for the The Age, Michelle Grattan, writes: “CRAIG Thomson should be out of the Parliament if he is convicted of a serious civil offence, independent Tony Windsor has said.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “THE woman who supposedly blew the whistle on corruption inside the Health Services Union will have to pay legal fees of more than $40,000 she incurred while defending herself against findings by Fair Work Australia.”

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Shadow Attorney-General, George Brandis, writes in the Australian: “IT is always dangerous when legal doctrines are taken hostage by politicians and sharpened into rhetorical weapons. A great deal of nonsense has been talked about the presumption of innocence in the Craig Thomson and Peter Slipper cases.”

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The Australian is reporting: “JUST before question time began in the House of Representatives last Wednesday, Liberal backbencher Mal Washer slid into the empty seat beside Craig Thomson to ask him how he was getting along.

“Washer, who is a doctor, was concerned about Thomson’s health.”

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The Daily Telegraph is reporting: “PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has told ACTU delegates the Health Services Union scandal has tarnished the reputation of the union movement.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, will be on the other side of the world when Craig Thomson makes his speech to Parliament on Monday.”

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The ABC is reporting: “Union leaders have used the start of the ACTU Congress to condemn the alleged behaviour that has engulfed the Health Services Union.”

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Executive Director of The Sydney Institute, Gerard Henderson, writes in today’s Sydney Morning Herald, “Perhaps, in modern parlance, it seemed like a good idea at the time. However, the insistence of the independent MPs Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor that Craig Thomson deliver a statement to the House of Representatives next week could turn out to be counterproductive.”

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The Australian is reporting: “CRAIG Thomson could face legal action from the Health Services Union to recoup $500,000 of union funds he allegedly rorted to pay for prostitutes, cash advances and his election campaign in his NSW central coast seat of Dobell.”

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The Australian is reporting: “CRAIG Thomson has nominated his half-brother Struan Robertson as a crucial witness to substantiate his claims that union rivals had threatened to “ruin” his career and set him up with prostitutes.”

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The Australian is reporting: “LEADERS of the factional war gripping the Health Services Union’s allegedly corruption-ridden East branch could soon be sacked after the union asked the NSW Industrial Court yesterday to place it in administration.”

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The Daily Telegraph is reporting: “LABOR officials were allegedly first warned about a looming crisis within the scandal-ridden Health Services Union as far back as 2005, it has been claimed.”

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The Australian is reporting: “UNION boss Paul Howes says Labor would have dealt with the Craig Thomson issue differently if it was not in minority government.”

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The ABC is reporting: “Union officials from across the country are gathering for the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) Congress in Sydney, but the meeting looks set to be overshadowed by the scandal involving Craig Thomson and the Health Services Union (HSU).”

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The Australian is reporting: “ACTU president Ged Kearney has warned the Health Services Union scandal demands a renewed effort to improve accountability and maintain the trust of low-paid members.”

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The ABC is reporting: “The Health Services Union’s East branch has asked to have an administrator appointed.”

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The Australian is reporting: “LAST Wednesday as the Coalition fought to force MP Craig Thomson to explain to the house the matters relating to him in Fair Work Australia’s findings on the Health Services Union, the embattled member for Dobell got to his feet.

“”I would like to indicate to parliament that I will be seeking to make a statement, probably in excess of 10 minutes and closer to 15 minutes, on the next occasion parliament sits,” Thomson said.”

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They Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “MEMBERS of the scandal-plagued Health Services Union are stumping up more than $1000 a day in legal fees for the head, Michael Williamson, who is still collecting an estimated $500,000 a year in union salary and board-related positions.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “MEMBERS of the scandal-plagued Health Services Union are stumping up more than $1000 a day in legal fees for union head Michael Williamson, who is still collecting an estimated $500,000 a year in union salary and board-related positions.”

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The ABC is reporting: “Federal politicians say they do not think a formal code of conduct for MPs would improve behaviour.”

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The Australian is reporting: “A PROPOSED code of conduct for federal MPs was shelved just two days after the release of Fair Work Australia findings that suspended Labor MP Craig Thomson had rorted $500,000 of union members’ money.”

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The Financial Review is reporting: “Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday threw her support behind a proposal for a code of conduct for MPs that was put on ice six months ago, as the government struggles to deflect attention away from embattled MP Craig Thomson.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “Union leader Paul Howes has warned that Australia’s union movement could be wiped out if there is another episode like the Health Services Union scandal.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “Australia’s union movement could be wiped off the map if there is a repeat of the Health Services Union scandal, a senior official is warning.”

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The ABC is reporting: “Prime Minister Julia Gillard says she would welcome a code of conduct for MPs as Parliament grapples with the scandal facing suspended Labor MP Craig Thomson.”

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The Sun Herald is reporting: “CROSSBENCH MPs have signalled a push for a tougher code of conduct for politicians, but are almost certain not to suspend Craig Thomson over findings by Fair Work Australia that he paid for prostitutes on his union credit card.”

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The Sun Herald is reporting: “She established Craig Thomson’s campaign office and concocted a community group as a front for the Labor Party, but the woman at the centre of Mr Thomson’s 2007 election win in Dobell insists she was just working for the union movement.”

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The Australian is reporting: “KEY independent Tony Windsor has canvassed a possible referendum on rule changes that would allow MPs to be banned from parliament for civil offences.”

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The Sunday Age’s National Political Editor, Misha Schubert, writes: “IT’S an elaborate plot, this one that exiled Labor MP Craig Thomson implicitly asks us to believe has been hatched against him. Either that, or it’s an incredibly long list of misunderstandings about his impeccable conduct at the helm of the union representing hospital cleaners, right before he scored a seat in Parliament.”

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The Sun Herald is reporting: “INDEPENDENT MPs have called for ”cool heads” to prevail as the Craig Thomson saga drags on, with crossbenchers expressing discomfort over using Parliament to punish the MP.”

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The ABC is reporting: “Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has taken aim at suspended Labor MP Craig Thomson, saying an interview in which he claims he is the victim of a set-up is simply an alibi for the Prime Minister to retain his vote.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “CRAIG THOMSON has claimed allegations that he used a union credit card for prostitutes was a set-up by a rival union official eight years ago designed to ruin his political aspirations.”

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The Australian is reporting: “CRAIG Thomson says a disgruntled union official threatened to set him up with prostitutes and ruin his political career eight years ago, in the first glimpse of how he intends to defend himself against explosive allegations against him in the Fair Work Australia report.”

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The Australian is reporting: “POLITICAL enemies on numerous occasions set up Craig Thomson with fabricated records suggesting he engaged prostitutes, including making telephone calls from his mobile phone to escort agencies pretending to be him, using his drivers licence for authentication, and obtaining his two union credit cards to pay for the services, the Labor turned independent MP claims.”

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Senior Reporter for the Sydney Morning Herald, Kate McClymont, writes: “The world according to Craig Thomson was not the same as the one unearthed by Fair Work Australia.”

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The ABC is reporting: “Police have executed a number a search warrants in Sydney as part of the investigation into suspended Labor MP Craig Thomson.”

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Nine Network Political Editor, Laurie Oakes, has interviewed Labor MP, Craig Thomson, about the Fair Work Australia report.

Channel Nine has posted it online in three parts and you can watch it here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

The Financial Review is reporting: “Independent MP Rob Oakeshott says the Craig Thomson scandal is undermining his agreement to support Prime Minister Julia Gillard and brought into question her ­legitimacy in becoming the nation’s leader.”

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The Daily Telegraph is reporting: “INDEPENDENT MP Rob Oakeshott has questioned the deal he struck with Julia Gillard following the 2010 election, saying Labor’s moral authority was eroded by the party’s decision to pre-select embattled MP Craig Thomson.”

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The Daily Telegraph is reporting: “ONE of Labor’s most senior powerbrokers admitted the ALP paid Craig Thomson’s $200,000-plus legal bill to ensure the Gillard government clung on to power.

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The Australian is reporting: “KEY crossbench MP Tony Windsor has made it clear he won’t support a move to boot embattled MP Craig Thomson out of parliament over his alleged misuse of union funds.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “COALITION hopes that the Craig Thomson affair will bring down the Gillard government have been set back with the independent MP Bob Katter saying the courts, not Parliament, should judge the former Labor MP.”

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Age Political Editor, Michelle Grattan, writes in an opinion piece: “Labor has squirmed, now it’s Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott’s turn.”

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The Australian is reporting: “CRAIG Thomson may face further investigations over the union rorts scandal after Integrity Minister Gary Gray referred the explosive Fair Work Australia report to the Department of Finance and the Australian Electoral Commission.”

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The Daily Telegraph is reporting: “VICTORIAN police working on the Craig Thomson investigation have raided a number of premises in Sydney, police sources say.”

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The Australian is reporting: “HEALTH Services Union national secretary Kathy Jackson will urge the union’s executive to sue Craig Thomson for the $500,000 he allegedly exploited from members’ funds to pay for prostitutes, high living and his own election campaign.”

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The ABC is reporting: “The Federal Government is pushing ahead with its court case to appoint an administrator to the troubled East branch of the Health Services Union despite the NSW Government passing legislation to appoint an administrator.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “Efforts to place the scandal-plagued Health Services Union East branch into administration threaten to “end up in an almighty mess” because different levels of government are involved, warns the acting HSU national president, Chris Brown.”

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In an opinion piece in the Australian Gabrielle Chan writes: “THERE is a moment when a sheep is cut out of the mob that it stands stock still. Its eyes open wide and it instantly recognises its bad move. At that point, the sheepdog just has to bide its time.”

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The ABC is reporting: “Independent MP Rob Oakeshott says Parliament should consider censuring suspended Labor MP Craig Thomson once he has made a statement about his time at the helm of the the Health Services Union.”

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The Australian is reporting: “KEY independent MP Rob Oakeshott has warned he won’t hesitate in taking parliamentary action against Craig Thomson if he is unsatisfied with the embattled MP’s explanation of “damning” allegations against him.”

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In a Sydney Morning Herald opinion piece Tony Wright writes, “HE SPEAKS! Craig Thomson, once the holder of the most fascinating union-issued credit card in the land, proved that if nothing else, he is capable of breathtaking brinkmanship.”

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The Australian is reporting: “AFTER years of being protected by the ALP, embattled MP Craig Thomson took a bullet for the Gillard government yesterday and stopped the complete derailment of Wayne Swan’s budget.”

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The Australian is reporting: “ONE of the top officials of the scandal-ridden Health Services Union’s East branch is attempting to broker a deal for the leadership to resign en masse, before the NSW and federal governments join to enforce such a result.”

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The Australian is reporting: “CRAIG Thomson will explain himself to parliament over the Health Services Union scandal after being forced into promising a lengthy statement to avoid further damage to the Gillard government.”

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The Australian is reporting: “JULIA Gillard has moved to distance herself from revelations Craig Thomson received legal help from the Labor Party to fight corruption allegations, saying she did not play any role in securing the aid.”

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The Daily Telegraph is reporting: “FORMER Labor MP Craig Thomson is embroiled in a new controversy, with revelations he has “for months” been receiving legal assistance from the ALP to fight his sleaze allegations.”

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In a Sydney Morning Herald opinion piece Paul Sheehan writes: “Let us pause for a moment to enjoy the majesty of Craig Thomson’s magnificent gall, the gall on which Julia Gillard and her government have relied for the entire time Gillard has been Prime Minister.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “A SENIOR manager who demanded reform of the scandal-wracked east branch of the Health Services Union has been sacked, plunging the organisation into further disarray.”

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The SMH is reporting: “A KEY independent, Rob Oakeshott, has not ruled out backing the Coalition in taking action against the former Labor MP Craig Thomson, but will reserve his judgment until hearing the member for Dobell’s explanation for his alleged misdeeds.”

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In a Sydney Morning Herald opinion piece Jacqueline Maley writes: “HE SPOKE. The Member for Dobell and his curious credit card have endured years of allegations, innuendo, and the crossing of lines whose precise placement is unclear to everyone except the Prime Minister.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “WHATEVER is inside the black bag police recently seized from the union boss Michael Williamson remains a mystery as the suitcase is now the subject of a legal wrangle.”

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The ABC is reporting: “Suspended Labor MP Craig Thomson says he will address Parliament later this month about allegations he misused a union credit card to pay for prostitutes.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “THE NSW Minister for Finance would be empowered to put any union into administration under new laws introduced yesterday.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “THE Health Services Union is haemorrhaging members as workers react with anger to reports that Craig Thomson repeatedly misused members’ funds over five years, including the procurement of prostitutes.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “Embattled MP Craig Thomson has finally agreed to address parliament about Fair Work findings he used union funds to pay for escort services.”

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The Daily Telegraph is reporting: “PRIME Minister Julia Gillard risks losing her wafer-thin parliamentary majority with two key independent MPs signalling they may support a move to oust disgraced former Labor MP Craig Thomson.”

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A Sydney Morning Herald opinion piece says: “One of its own vied for attention on the government’s banner day, writes Tony Wright.”

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The Daily Telegraph is reporting: “JULIA Gillard said she was “deeply, deeply disturbed” by the industrial umpire’s 1100-page report that found suspended Labor MP Craig Thomson rorted Health Services Union funds.”

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The Australian is reporting: “JULIA Gillard has vigorously defended Craig Thomson’s right to sit in parliament, less than a fortnight after banishing him from the Labor benches over allegations of misuse of union funds.”

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The Australian is reporting: “THE head of the Health Services Union’s East branch, Michael Williamson, is under increased pressure to resign after Fair Work Australia found he failed to exercise adequate control over the union’s finances and hiring of employees.”

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The Australian is reporting: “THE busting of the Health Services Union’s East branch moved a step closer yesterday when emergency legislation was introduced in NSW to allow the state government to appoint an administrator to run the union.”

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The Australian is reporting: “THE Gillard government’s hold on power was looking more precarious last night with independents Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor indicating they were considering whether to back Coalition action against Craig Thomson.”

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The Age is reporting: “THE Australian Electoral Commission’s chief legal officer says it is unlikely MP Craig Thomson will be pursued for possible serious breaches of election laws because of the length of time that has passed since any offences had occurred.”

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The Australian is reporting: “WEDDING music, tourism, lavish entertainment and holidays were among expenses billed to Health Services Union members by Craig Thomson, according to Fair Work Australia’s report.”

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The Australian is reporting: “MEN lying about sex is hardly breaking news. Type the words into Google and you get 127 million results. It is almost always the cover-up that brings down the guilty.”

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The ABC is reporting: “Federal independent MP Andrew Wilkie says Parliament should have the chance to debate the future of suspended Labor MP Craig Thomson.”

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The Australian is reporting: “POORLY paid Health Services Union members were forced to spend $25,000 a year on an “organising expert”, even though she had left to work for another union, and to fund ALP campaigners in marginal seats ahead of the 2007 federal election.”

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The Australian is reporting: “CIGARETTES, Cherry Ripes, jelly babies and Berry Ice-flavoured Powerade were among the “incidental” items charged by Craig Thomson to his Health Services Union credit card.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “THE government has rushed out planned measures to crack down on rorting in unions and toughen the investigative capacity of Fair Work Australia, as it tries to limit the fallout from the highly damaging report into the conduct of the Health Services Union.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “SUSPENDED Labor MP Craig Thomson repeatedly provided false and misleading information to investigators during a long inquiry into the Health Services Union, a Fair Work Australia report has found.”

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The ABC is reporting: “Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten has labelled a damning Fair Work Australia report into the Health Services Union as “disturbing”, and promised to rectify any deficiencies in the law.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “PRESSURE on the Gillard government to no longer accept Craig Thomson’s vote has intensified after Fair Work Australia found the former Labor MP spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of union money on hospitality and election expenses and lied to investigators when quizzed about using his credit card on prostitutes.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald reports: “A FAIR Work Australia report has concluded that not only did Craig Thomson use his union credit card to obtain the services of prostitutes, he then provided false and misleading information to the workplace regulator about this expenditure.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “CRAIG THOMSON repeatedly provided false and misleading information during the course of a long investigation into the national office of the Health Services Union, a Fair Work Australia report has found.”

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The Australian is reporting: “CRAIG Thomson appears to have continued to spend up big on his union credit cards for months after he had left the Health Services Union to become an MP, paying bills for hotel accommodation, meals and rental cars.”

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The Australian is reporting: “UNION officials will be made more accountable, their pay disclosed and penalties for breaching the Fair Work Act will be increased in a government crackdown in the wake of the Health Services Union scandal.”

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The Australian is reporting: “FAIR WORK Australia found stood-aside Health Services Union boss Michael Williamson did not fulfil his role of ensuring adequate credit-card expenditure controls.”

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The Australian is reporting: “YOUNG Blondes, Miss Behaving, A Touch of Class, Tiffany’s. After a hard day’s work at, say, a Labor Party conference, it would appear Craig Thomson settled in for a hard night’s work with some of Australia’s finest escorts.”

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The Australian is reporting: “CRAIG Thomson has been accused of misspending almost $300,000 of union funds to secure himself a seat in parliament, including $200,000 on political staffers and more than $70,000 on his 2007 election campaign.”

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The Australian is reporting: “CRAIG Thomson grossly exploited his position as national secretary of the Health Services Union at the expense of poorly paid members, using his union credit cards to splurge $500,000 on prostitutes, spousal travel and high living, a three-year investigation by Fair Work Australia has found.”

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The Australian is reporting: “TONY Abbott has called on embattled MP Craig Thomson to quit parliament following the release of a damning Fair Work Australia report.”

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The Daily Telegraph is reporting: “THE Gillard government has been catapulted into yet another crisis after the industrial umpire found suspended Labor MP Craig Thomson committed massive fraud – including spending $6008 on prostitutes.”

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The Australian Financial Review is reporting: “The fate of the minority Gillard government is in the balance after an investigation of the Health Services Union found 156 legal and rule breaches by federal MP and former union official Craig Thomson.”

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The Australian is reporting: “THE general secretary of the allegedly corrupt Health Services Union’s East branch, Michael Williamson, is so confident of being cleared of allegations of cronyism, nepotism, and taking secret commissions that he is planning his re-election campaign.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “FAIR Work Australia has recommended civil court action against MP and former Health Services Union national secretary Craig Thomson after uncovering what it says was substantial misuse of members’ funds.”

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The Daily Telegraph is reporting: “AUSTRALIA’S workplace relations tribunal will take the Health Services Union (HSU) national office along with two current officials, a former auditor and one former official to the Federal Court over 181 contraventions of union rules.”

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The Australian is reporting: “FAIR Work Australia has recommended civil action in the Federal Court against a former Health Services Union official, believed to be embattled MP Craig Thomson.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “NSW MPs from different sides of politics are grappling with how to provide an ”escape hatch” for paramedics and junior doctors who want to leave the Health Services Union, without accepting the state government’s laws to introduce competitive unionism.”

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The Sunday Telegraph is reporting: “CRAIG Thomson repeatedly raised the option of moving to the crossbenches to sit as an independent, but his olive branch to the Labor Party was ignored by the Prime Minister.”

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The Age’s Michelle Grattan writes: “DO OTHER people feel that seeing one more interview with anyone associated with the Health Services Union might be enough to invite an attack on the television set? The byzantine politics and rorting in this extraordinary outfit are beyond ordinary comprehension, and nothing comes to a conclusion.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “EMBATTLED MP Craig Thomson has come under fresh pressure, with Director of Public Prosecutions Chris Craigie referring the Fair Work Australia report on the Health Services Union that deals with him to Victorian and NSW police.”

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The ABC is reporting: “The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) has handed over the Fair Work Australia report into the embattled Health Services Union (HSU) to police in Victoria and New South Wales.”

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The Australian is reporting: “THE NSW police commander overseeing the investigation into alleged systemic corruption in the Health Services Union’s East branch yesterday rejected claims by independent MP Craig Thomson that he is not a focus of the probe.”

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The Australian is reporting: “SENIOR union leaders have labelled wages paid to Health Services Union officials as excessive and obscene while defending their own salaries.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “THE Premier, Barry O’Farrell, says his government will seek to pass urgent legislation to ensure an administrator can be appointed to the NSW arm of the Health Services Union after doubts were raised about the Federal Court’s jurisdiction to make orders relating to a state union.”

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The Australian is reporting: “NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell has dramatically intervened in the Health Services Union East branch scandal, vowing to introduce legislation to appoint an administrator after the Federal Court raised doubts about the Gillard government’s own legal action.”

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The Australian: “COMMONWEALTH prosecutors have handed to police an 1100 page report by workplace authorities alleging criminal conduct in the Health Services Union.”

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The Australian is reporting: “THE allegedly corrupt Health Services Union East branch has been paying $1.25 million a year to a company that appears to be uncontactable, and for goods or services that no officer of the union is prepared to identify.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “THE union boss Michael Williamson may face criminal charges after allegedly being caught trying to smuggle documents out of the Health Services Union headquarters during the middle of a police raid.”

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The Daily Telegraph is reporting: “THE chief federal prosecutor has referred a report into the national office of the Health Services Union to the NSW and Victorian police.”

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The Daily Telegraph is reporting: “HEALTH Services Union boss Michael Williamson was allegedly caught attempting to take a bag of documents out of the union’s Sydney office to his car during a police raid yesterday morning.”

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The Australian is reporting: “FORMER ALP national president Michael Williamson allegedly tried to spirit away “relevant” documents during a police raid at the Sydney offices of the Health Services Union yesterday, prompting authorities to warn that anyone found to be interfering in the investigation could face criminal charges.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “Craig Thomson cannot yet distance himself from police investigation into the union’s East branch, says the acting national president of the Health Services Union, Chris Brown.”

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The Australian is reporting: “WORKPLACE Relations minister Bill Shorten’s bid to have the federal court place the scandal-ridden Health Services Union east branch into administration faced a major setback today.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “The NSW Premier, Barry O’Farrell, says his government will seek to pass urgent legislation to ensure an administrator can be appointed to the NSW branch of the Health Services Union after doubts were raised about the Federal Court’s jurisdiction to make orders relating to a state union.”

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The ABC is reporting: “The scandal surrounding the Health Services Union erupted again this week as fraud squad detectives raided the union’s Sydney offices and current and former executives traded accusations.”

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The ABC is reporting: “The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has indicated he does not believe there are any legal barriers to publishing Fair Work Australia’s report on the Health Services Union.”

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The Australian is reporting: “IT would be “game over” for Health Services Union boss Michael Williamson if he’s found to have interfered with a police raid on a branch office, the organisation has warned.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “Health Services Union head Michael Williamson was stopped allegedly trying to remove documents as police raided his Sydney offices this morning.”

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The Daily Telegraph is reporting: “THE union boss Michael Williamson has allegedly been caught attempting to take a bag of documents out of the HSU while a police raid occurs on the premises.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “FIVE companies, some associated with the Health Services Union boss Michael Williamson, received more than $17 million over a four-year period, a scathing report into the union’s procurement process has found.”

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The Daily Telegraph is reporting: “A SCATHING report into the Health Services Union has alleged at least five contracts were awarded without any tender process and officials paid inflated rates to secure deals with companies affiliated with families and friends.”

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The Daily Telegraph is reporting: “JUST a day after Prime Minister Julia Gillard finally moved to sideline Craig Thomson, a damning report alleges the Health Services Union he once headed racked up $17 million worth of contracts without going to tender.”

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The ABC is reporting: “An interim report into the troubled east branch of the Health Services Union says the union has no credit card policy or formal purchase order system despite millions of dollars of expenditure each year.”

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The Australian is reporting: “THE Health Services Union’s East branch has no effective financial controls, no rules on credit card use, paid $17 million in contracts without putting them to tender and exposed itself to fraud risks.”

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The Australian is reporting: “SIX branches of the embattled Health Services Union will join forces to call for the appointment of an administrator to the scandal-ridden HSU East in a bid to ensure the government’s application to the Federal Court does not “collapse at the eleventh-hour”.”

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Judith Sloan writes in today’s Australian: NINE times out of 10, the cover-up is worse than the disclosure.

The fact that the government has been attempting to prevent, or at least delay, the release of a number of reports on the conduct of various officials of the Health Services Union, both past and present, suggests the contents of these reports are incredibly damaging.

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “MEMBERS of Victoria Police’s fraud and extortion squad are expected to visit brothels and escort agencies in Sydney this week to interview sex workers about whether the former Labor MP Craig Thomson used union funds to pay for their services while he was national secretary of the Health Services Union.”

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An opinion piece in today’s Sydney Morning Herald reads: “Craig Thomson had little to offer on the Prime Minister’s decision, writes Andrew Stevenson.”

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The ABC is reporting: “Both Federal Minister Craig Emerson and General Secretary of NSW Labor Sam Dastyari confirmed it was Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s decision to sideline Craig Thomson and Peter Slipper.”

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The Australian is reporting: “THE “dark cloud” Julia Gillard attempted to purge from Canberra appeared to have settled over Craig Thomson’s electorate yesterday, as rain fell and acrid smoke filled the air outside the embattled MP’s office.”

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The Australian is reporting: “HEALTH Services Union national secretary Kathy Jackson will challenge Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten’s Federal Court bid to split the HSU East branch back into its NSW and Victorian parts.”

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Kate McClymont writes in today’s Sydney Morning Herald: “I will make a comprehensive statement in the near future,” promised Craig Thomson in September last year.

Ever since the allegations that he misused union funds were first raised almost four years ago, the embattled federal MP has been promising an explanation, and offering to aid authorities at every opportunity in order to clear his name.

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The Daily Telegraph is reporting: “CRAIG Thomson retreated to the crossbenches yesterday but did so with a show of defiance to the Prime Minister – he will be back.”

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The Australian is reporting: “EMBATTLED MP Craig Thomson says his suspension from the Labor Party is only temporary and believes he will return to the government benches in a “short period of time”.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “Prime Minister Julia Gillard has asked embattled Labor backbencher Craig Thomson to quit the party and move to the cross-bench.”

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The Australian is reporting: “JULIA GILLARD says she is trying to rid parliament of a “dark cloud” by having Craig Thomson quit Labor and asking Peter Slipper to remain stood down as Speaker.”

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The Daily Telegraph is reporting: “EMBATTLED MP Craig Thomson has denied Prime Minister Julia Gillard pushed him into joining the cross bench, claiming it was a mutual decision.”

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The ABC is reporting: “Julia Gillard has asked MP Craig Thomson to quit the Labor Party and told Speaker Peter Slipper to accept a longer suspension as she moves to dispel what she says is a “dark cloud” hanging over the Federal Parliament.”

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The Australian is reporting: “BESIEGED federal Labor MP Craig Thomson has quit the Labor Party and will sit on parliament’s cross benches.”

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The Australian is reporting: “A DAMNING report into the Health Services Union’s scandal-plagued East branch will be distributed next week, the first of several probes into alleged maladministration and corruption in the branch to release its findings.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald reports: “A POTENTIALLY explosive internal investigation into the machinations of the Health Services Union may not be made public after lawyers for the union claimed that the material uncovered may leave it open to defamation action.”

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The Australian is reporting: “THE scandal-riddled Health Services Union faces the most serious intervention into a union by a Labor government in 30 years, as Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten moves to sack the leadership of its biggest branch and place it in administration.”

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The Australian is reporting: “THE GILLARD government has moved to intervene in the internal workings of a trade union for the first time in decades, applying to appoint an administrator to the Health Services Union’s scandal-ridden East branch.”

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The Australian is reporting: “HEALTH Services Union chiefs have called for the resignation of national secretary Kathy Jackson, citing factional warfare and allegations of impropriety dogging the union.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting: “THE federal government has taken the unprecedented step of intervening in the scandal-plagued Health Services Union.”

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The Daily Telegraph is reporting: “THE federal government yesterday launched a bid to place the scandal-plagued HSU East branch in administration – just days before the planned release of a potentially damning internal investigation.”

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An editorial in today’s Australian reads: “THE Federal Court application by Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten to appoint an administrator to run the scandal-ridden Health Services Union East branch and sack its officials is a welcome if belated move to address the widespread fraud and corruption in the discredited union.”

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The ABC is reporting: “The national secretary of the Health Services Union (HSU) claims Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten has been secretly working to undermine her.”

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The ABC is reporting: “Almost all the branches of the Health Services Union (HSU) have thrown their weight behind the Federal Government’s move to push the union’s troubled East branch into administration.”

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