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Health Services Union expenses affair

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The Craig Thomson affair is the Australian political scandal revolving around findings that the Australian federal politician Craig Thomson used the funds of the Health Services Union to pay for personal expenses including travel, meals, entertainment, prostitutes and his own election campaign.

In 2002, Thomson was elected as the National Secretary of the HSU, a trade union into which the HREA had merged. During Thomson's term at the union it was re-branded as a united federal union and state branches adopted similar names and logos.

In December 2008, the Health Services Union (HSU) requested its lawyers to retain forensic accountants to investigate allegations of impropriety around Thomson's use of a union-issued corporate MasterCard. Specifically, there were accusations that Thomson had used the credit card to: make payments to three companies which provide or facilitate prostitution and escort services in Sydney; make payments for goods and services consumed by Thomson personally; and to withdraw $101,533 in cash. The HSU further suggested that Thomson had used the credit card to finance his election campaign in a manner which would breach Australian electoral law. For his part, at that time Thomson denied all allegations of wrongdoing, stated that an independent audit had not identified any inappropriate use of the card, noted that other people would have been able to incur charges on the account and claimed the accusations had been fabricated by rivals within the HSU.

The union's accusations were reported by The Sydney Morning Herald in April 2009. In response, Thomson initiated defamation proceedings against both the Health Services Union and against the publisher of the Herald, Fairfax Media. In pretrial proceedings in the New South Wales Supreme Court, Fairfax Media claimed that subpoenaed records showed that details of Thomson's driver's license had been noted on the credit card receipt, that phone records showed that Thomson's phone had been used to call two phone numbers associated with a Sydney escort agency and that mobile phone records showed that Thomson had travelled from his constituency to Sydney on one of the nights on which one of the impugned charges to the credit card had been made.

Thomson continued to deny accusations of impropriety and Fairfax Media's claims were never tested or proven at trial: shortly before the defamation trial was due to begin in April 2011, a notice of discontinuance was filed on Thomson's behalf with the New South Wales Supreme Court. Thomson claimed that he had reached an out-of-court settlement with Fairfax Media and continued to deny any allegation of impropriety made against him; Fairfax Media claimed that Thomson had "dropped" the case and maintained all allegations made against him. It was subsequently revealed that the Australian Labor Party had contributed towards Thomson's legal costs in the actions.

In a radio interview in August 2011, Thomson stated that he had approved payments made by the Health Services Union to a Sydney escort agency but denied having used the card to pay for prostitution. Rather, he said, another man (who he declined to identify) had used his credit card to pay for escort services and may have forged Thomson's signature in the process and produced a copy of his photo drivers licence as identification; he claimed that unidentified man had subsequently repaid $15,000 to the Health Services Union.

A three year investigation by Fair Work Australia of improprieties in the use of union funds describes $6 000 spent on escorts, $103 000 withdrawn as cash advances from union credit cards, and $270 000 spent on his 2007 election campaign. Fair Work Australia has commenced proceedings against Thomson in the Federal Court. Thomson has called the 1 100 page report, tabled on 7 May 2012 in the Senate, as "nothing short of a joke".

  1. "Mr Craig Thomson MP Dobell". ABC News. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  2. ^ "Craig Thomson union credit card rort paid for brothels". Smh.com.au. 8 April 2009. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  3. "MP silent on 'credit card rort'". Smh.com.au. 9 April 2009. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  4. "Craig Thomson|$1million union damages". Smh.com.au. 18 February 2010. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  5. "MP's defamation case settled". Abc.net.au. 28 April 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  6. "MP linked to prostitutes". Smh.com.au. 7 December 2010. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  7. ^ "Labor MP drops case against Fairfax". Smh.com.au. 6 June 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  8. "The gloat may cost". Blogs.news.com.au. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  9. Forton, Danny (16 August 2011). "Labor MP Craig Thomson a protected species: Tony Abbott". The Australian. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  10. Jeremy Thompson (2 August 2011). "MP admits authorising escort payments". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  11. Lane, Sabra. "Fair Work report finds Thomson misused union funds". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 7 May 2012.