ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION
GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION
Public Hearing
(Day 1)
Level 17, Governor Macquarie Tower
Farrer Place, Sydney
On Monday, 12 May 2014 at 10.00am
Before the Commissioner: Justice John Dyson Heydon AC QC
Counsel Assisting: Mr Jeremy Stoljar SC
Mr Michael Elliott
Instructed by: Minter Ellison, Solicitors
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1 MR STOLJAR: Commissioner, today's hearing relates to an
2 incorporated entity named Australian Workers' Union
3 Workplace Reform Association Inc, which I will call
4 "the association". The association was incorporated in
5 Western Australia on 24 June 1992 under the Associations
6 Incorporation Act 1987 (WA). It was deregistered on
7 20 February 2006.
8
9 The association is a related entity within the meaning
10 of paragraph (a) of this Commission's terms of reference.
11 As the name of the association suggests, it relates to The
12 Australian Workers' Union, the AWU, one of the employee
13 associations named in paragraph (b) of the terms of
14 reference.
15
16 Today's witness is Mr Ralph Edwin Blewitt, who was
17 previously assistant secretary of the WA branch of the AWU
18 and then secretary.
19
20 Mr Blewitt is, and has for some considerable period
21 been, a resident of Malaysia. Mr Blewitt arrived back in
22 Australia last week. He is likely to return to Malaysia in
23 the near future. In these circumstances, the Commission is
24 taking advantage of Mr Blewitt's temporary presence in
25 Australia to hear his evidence today.
26
27 Further witnesses relevant to the association are
28 likely to be called by the Commission in due course.
29 However, those hearings will not proceed immediately upon
30 the conclusion of Mr Blewitt's evidence.
31
32 When today's hearing was set down, counsel assisting
33 the Commission had not yet spoken to Mr Blewitt, and given
34 this, no statement of Mr Blewitt's evidence in this
35 Commission has been prepared or circulated in advance to
36 persons who may be affected by Mr Blewitt's evidence.
37
38 In overview, the evidence which Mr Blewitt is likely
39 to give today may be summarised as follows: in 1991, the
40 Western Australian Department of Harbours advertised for
41 tenders for a construction project known as the Dawesville
42 Channel project.
43
44 The Dawesville Channel is a man-made channel located
45 about 80 kilometres south of Perth. It permits seawater
46 from the Indian Ocean to enter an estuary. The successful
47 tenderer for the Dawesville Channel project was Thiess
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1 Contractors Pty Limited or one or more of its related
2 entities, and I will refer to those as "Thiess".
3
4 Once Thiess had obtained the contract to construct the
5 Dawesville Channel project, it entered into an arrangement
6 with the association for the provision of services relating
7 to workplace reform and safety as set out in a letter dated
8 16 March 1992 from Thiess to the association.
9
10 This letter contemplated the association providing
11 a representative to carry out services relating to
12 workplace reform, site safety and operator training on the
13 Dawesville Channel project. The letter stipulated that the
14 association's representative would work and be paid for
15 a certain number of hours per week and that the agreed rate
16 of pay would include reimbursement for travel costs,
17 accommodation and other expenses.
18
19 At about this time, Mr Blewitt or Mr Wilson, or both,
20 appear to have lodged an application for incorporation of
21 the association with the Western Australian Commissioner
22 for Corporate Affairs. This application was unsuccessful.
23
24 Following the failure of this initial attempt to
25 incorporate the association, in about March or April 1992
26 Mr Wilson and Mr Blewitt flew to Melbourne to seek legal
27 advice from the firm Slater & Gordon. While in Melbourne,
28 Mr Wilson and Mr Blewitt attended a meeting at the offices
29 of Slater & Gordon. In addition to Mr Wilson and
30 Mr Blewitt, the meeting was attended by one or more
31 partners of Slater & Gordon.
32
33 At this meeting, at least three documents appear to
34 have been drafted or finalised: firstly, an application
35 for incorporation of the association; secondly,
36 a certificate to accompany the application; and, thirdly,
37 the rules of the association, including its objects.
38
39 While these documents were otherwise completed at the
40 meeting, Mr Blewitt does not appear to have signed them
41 there and then. Rather, he took the documents with him
42 back to Perth.
43
44 Then, on 22 April 1992, Mr Blewitt signed the
45 application and the certificate. The following day, he
46 lodged the documents at the office of the Commissioner for
47 Corporate Affairs. This second attempt at incorporation
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1 was successful.
2
3 On 24 June 1992, the association was formally
4 incorporated by the Western Australian Commissioner for
5 Corporate Affairs. At about the same time as lodging the
6 application, Mr Blewitt caused the association to start
7 issuing regular monthly invoices to Thiess.
8
9 On their face, the invoices levied charges for the
10 provision by the association of a representative to supply
11 services relating to workplace reform and safety,
12 consistently with the letter dated 16 March 1992 referred
13 to above. However, Mr Blewitt's evidence today is likely
14 to be that these invoices were a sham. In fact, no work
15 was carried out by the association at the site of the
16 Dawesville Channel project.
17
18 Presumably, on the incorrect assumption that such
19 services had been provided, Thiess paid each invoice issued
20 to it by the association. By this time, Mr Blewitt and
21 Mr Wilson had caused various accounts to be established
22 with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Western
23 Australia. The cheques received from Thiess were deposited
24 to one or other of these accounts.
25
26 Mr Blewitt's evidence will be that he and Mr Wilson
27 retained these funds for their own use and that the members
28 of the AWU derived no benefit from them.
29
30 In approximately mid or late 1992 Mr Wilson moved from
31 Perth to Melbourne, where he took up a position with the
32 Victorian branch of the AWU. In early 1993 funds of the
33 association were used to acquire a property in Melbourne
34 known as unit 1, 85 Kerr Street, Fitzroy. The Kerr Street
35 property was bought in Mr Blewitt's name but for the use of
36 Mr Wilson.
37
38 The sale price of the Kerr Street property was
39 $230,000. Mr Blewitt's likely evidence will be that
40 approximately $93,000 of the funds required to complete the
41 said sale came from money which had been paid to the
42 association by Thiess on the sham invoices referred to
43 above.
44
45 The balance was borrowed from Slater & Gordon or
46 a person or entity associated with that firm, the loan
47 being secured by a first mortgage over the Kerr Street
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1 property.
2
3 The sale contract and security documents associated
4 with the acquisition of the Kerr Street property were
5 executed by Mr Wilson using a power of attorney granted to
6 him by Mr Blewitt in February 1993.
7
8 Mr Blewitt will also give evidence to the effect that
9 he withdrew various cash sums from the association's bank
10 accounts. He would store the money for a period of time
11 until he next saw Mr Wilson. Mr Blewitt says that he then
12 handed over the cash to Mr Wilson.
13
14 Other than handing money over to Mr Wilson,
15 Mr Blewitt's evidence will be that he does not know what
16 happened to the cash which was taken from the association's
17 various accounts.
18
19 The Kerr Street property was sold in March 1996.
20 Presumably the mortgage was paid out at that time.
21 Assuming that the proceeds of sale exceeded the amount
22 required to procure a discharge of the mortgage,
23 Mr Blewitt's evidence will be that he did not receive any
24 of such proceeds of sale.
25
26 Mr Blewitt's solicitor is present in court and has
27 authorisation to appear. Mr Wilson has also sought and
28 been granted authorisation to appear, and senior counsel
29 for Mr Wilson appears on his behalf today.
30
31 A number of other persons who could have an interest
32 in or be affected by Mr Blewitt's evidence have been
33 notified of the fact that he will be giving evidence in
34 public hearing today. At this stage, none of those other
35 persons has made an application for authorisation to
36 appear. However, their legal representatives are either
37 aware of or present at today's hearing.
38
39 Commissioner, I understand that Mr Galbally, who
40 appears for Mr Blewitt, has an application to make.
41
42 THE COMMISSIONER: Yes. Yes, Mr Galbally?
43
44 MR R GALBALLY: Bob Galbally is my name, Commissioner.
45 I seek leave to appear on behalf of Ralph Blewitt. The
46 authorisation hasn't previously been granted, but I seek
47 leave to appear today.
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1
2 THE COMMISSIONER: Yes, that leave is granted.
3
4 MR GALBALLY: The second matter that I would like to raise
5 is I seek to make application to have his address in
6 Malaysia suppressed from public release.
7
8 THE COMMISSIONER: Yes, what do you say, Mr Stoljar?
9
10 MR STOLJAR: There is no objection to that.
11
12 THE COMMISSIONER: Yes, I think there would be no problem
13 with that.
14
15 MR GALBALLY: Thank you.
16
17 THE COMMISSIONER: Dr Hanscombe, you are appearing for
18 Mr Wilson?
19
20 DR K HANSCOMBE QC: I do seek leave to appear for
21 Mr Wilson, Commissioner.
22
23 THE COMMISSIONER: Yes, that is granted, if it hasn't
24 already been.
25
26 MR STOLJAR: I call Mr Blewitt.
27
28 <RALPH EDWYN BLEWITT, affirmed: [10.11am]
29
30 <EXAMINATIONBYMR STOLJAR:
31
32 MR STOLJAR: Q. Your name is Ralph Edwyn Blewitt?
33 A. Correct.
34
35 Q. And Edwyn is spelt E-D-W-Y-N?
36 A. Correct.
37
38 Q. I won't ask your address, but you are a resident of
39 Malaysia?
40 A. That's right.
41
42 Q. Can you tell the Commissioner your occupation?
43 A. I am retired.
44
45 Q. Your date of birth?
46 A. 18 October 1945.
47
.12/05/2014 (1) 6 R E BLEWITT (Mr Stoljar)
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1 Q. Mr Blewitt, when were you first employed by the AWU?
2 A. From memory, in 1987.
3
4 Q. And that was the WA branch of the AWU?
5 A. That's correct.
6
7 Q. What was your position?
8 A. Organiser, employed organiser.
9
10 Q. In a nutshell, what were the responsibilities of an
11 organiser at that time? What did you do?
12 A. Work under the direction of the state secretary,
13 attend various construction and sites that had coverage of
14 either AWU members or potential members covered by the
15 constitution of The Australian Workers' Union.
16
17 Q. Was that a large branch, the WA branch?
18 A. Yes.
19
20 Q. How many members, roughly?
21 A. My recollection is around 15,000.
22
23 Q. You mentioned you worked at the direction of the
24 secretary. Who was the secretary at that time in 1987?
25 A. Joe Keenan.
26
27 Q. Did you get to know another employee of the AWU by the
28 name of Bruce Wilson?
29 A. Yes.
30
31 Q. What was his position when you were --
32 A. Organiser.
33
34 Q. He was an organiser as well; is that right?
35 A. Yes.
36
37 Q. Did you remain an organiser or did you seek some
38 higher position in the AWU?
39 A. I had no ambitions initially to do anything other than
40 organise. Ultimately, I did.
41
42 Q. Why did your position change?
43 A. There was an upheaval within the West Australian
44 branch of the AWU, and Mr Wilson indicated to me that he
45 wished to challenge the current secretary and other
46 officials of the union. I saw Mr Wilson as being
47 a charismatic person, with the aims and aspirations of the
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1 members of the union, who had the best interests of them.
2 He asked me either I was with him or against him, and
3 I went on the journey with him to challenge the incumbent
4 executives of the AWU. We ran a campaign and were
5 successful in winning that campaign and taking over the
6 branch.
7
8 Q. When was that, roughly?
9 A. Sorry?
10
11 Q. When was that?
12 A. I think 1991, I think. I'm sorry, I'm not good with
13 dates.
14
15 Q. You were living in Perth at this time, I take it?
16 A. Yes.
17
18 Q. Mr Wilson was also in Perth?
19 A. Yes.
20
21 Q. Did you work closely together?
22 A. Very closely.
23
24 Q. Your address in Perth at that time was
25 138 Warwick Road, Duncraig?
26 A. That's correct.
27
28 Q. This may become relevant later, but did you own your
29 own home or were you paying it off?
30 A. It was a matrimonial residential property. We had
31 a normal mortgage.
32
33 Q. So you were a married man?
34 A. Yes.
35
36 Q. No children at that time?
37 A. Not by that marriage.
38
39 Q. Once elected or once the elections had concluded, you
40 became the assistant secretary; is that right?
41 A. Yes.
42
43 Q. Mr Wilson was the secretary?
44 A. That's correct.
45
46 Q. Did you continue to work closely together?
47 A. We were, yes, inseparable.
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1
2 Q. You were inseparable?
3 A. Yes.
4
5 Q. Were you inseparable throughout the period Mr Wilson
6 was in Perth?
7 A. Yes.
8
9 Q. Who else worked in the office of the AWU at that time?
10 A. Sorry?
11
12 Q. Who else was working in the office?
13 A. We had the general office staff. We had people like -
14 when we took over the branch, Mr Wilson brought in a whole
15 new team that were trusted persons of him. For instance,
16 he brought down a gentleman called Stephen Booth from the
17 Pilbara, Peter Trebilco, Russell Frearson, people with
18 skills that he felt were beneficial to the aims and
19 aspirations of the branch. He employed a Christine
20 Campbell as a personal secretary. Then we just had the
21 general run-of-the-mill officials, so some officials were
22 removed and replaced by other officials.
23
24 Q. Once Mr Wilson took charge as secretary?
25 A. Once Mr Wilson took charge, there was a complete
26 overhaul of the branch.
27
28 Q. I'm going to ask you some questions about a project
29 known as the Dawesville Channel project. Are you familiar
30 with that?
31 A. Yes.
32
33 Q. Can you tell the Commission a bit about the Dawesville
34 Channel project?
35 A. I know very little about the project itself, other
36 than the fact that it was the major construction project in
37 Western Australia at that period.
38
39 Q. What physically did it - what was the work undertaken?
40 A. The actual site and everything - it was an enclosed
41 sort of re-entrance off the ocean, like an inlet, and it
42 only had one entrance, and for years people had been
43 complaining about the algae bloom there and the smell
44 related to that. The government took it upon themselves to
45 open the channel up so it had a flow from both ends, and
46 that would flush the channel out and refresh that and kill
47 that algae bloom situation. That was the intent of the
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1 project.
2
3 Q. Was there a tender for the work?
4 A. I believe so, yes.
5
6 Q. Who won the tender, to your knowledge?
7 A. Thiess Contractors ended up with the contract.
8
9 Q. Did the AWU, to your knowledge, play any role in that
10 tender process?
11 A. Yes.
12
13 Q. What was the role and who undertook it?
14 A. I don't know the sequence, whether it was Thiess
15 approached first or the state government, but certainly
16 Bruce Wilson met with officials of Thiess Contractors and
17 had negotiations with them, and he met with the deputy of
18 the Australian Labor Party, Ian Taylor, at the time, and
19 had discussions with him about that project.
20
21 Q. How do you know that? Were you present at these
22 discussions?
23 A. I attended two meetings at Parliament House with
24 Bruce Wilson where he met with Ian Taylor. One was
25 a meet-and-greet meeting, just general discussion, nothing
26 significant. Another time, I had dinner with him and
27 Bruce Wilson at Parliament House. Mr Wilson attended
28 several other meetings at Parliament House to meet with
29 Ian Taylor and others, and I didn't participate or attend
30 those meetings.
31
32 Q. How do you know he attended at the meetings, then?
33 A. I dropped him off. He was going to meet Ian Taylor
34 and I dropped him at the Parliament House steps.
35
36 Q. Did he tell you about what happened at those meetings?
37 A. No.
38
39 Q. Was Mr Wilson, to your knowledge, in favour of Thiess
40 becoming the successful tenderer?
41 A. Yes.
42
43 Q. Why was that?
44 A. I don't know what was in his head at the time, but the
45 fact is his brother-in-law was the senior person at Thiess
46 Contractors in Perth at that time.
47
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1 Q. In any event, to your understanding, for whatever
2 reason, Mr Wilson supported --
3 A. Sorry, could you speak up a little?
4
5 Q. I'm sorry. In any event, for whatever reason, to your
6 understanding, Mr Wilson supported Thiess becoming the
7 successful tenderer for the Dawesville Channel project?
8 A. I attended two meetings at Thiess's office in Perth
9 with Mr Wilson where I listened to Bruce outlining what the
10 union was prepared to do for and on behalf of Thiess, and
11 that was to basically make it a one-union site; we wouldn't
12 have any interference from other unions, no demarcation
13 disputes. And I attended another meeting, which was just
14 a meet and greet with Thiess, which was Joe Trio and
15 Nick Jukes. I took no part in the discussions that Wilson
16 had with Thiess other than that.
17
18 Q. I know it was a long time ago, but do you remember
19 where these meetings were?
20 A. At - I think Thiess had an office in South Perth, from
21 memory.
22
23 Q. Who else was present in addition to yourself and
24 Mr Wilson?
25 A. Nick Jukes and Joe Trio.
26
27 Q. At any of these meetings, did you discuss or hear
28 discussion of the entity we're looking at today, the
29 Workplace Reform Association?
30 A. Not at those meetings, no.
31
32 Q. I'm going to give you a folder of documents.
33
34 MR STOLJAR: Commissioner, it might be convenient for that
35 bundle to be marked for identification.
36
37 THE COMMISSIONER: I think the best marking would be
38 Blewitt MFI1.
39
40 BLEWITT MFI #1 BUNDLE OF DOCUMENTS
41
42 MR STOLJAR: Q. Mr Blewitt, can I take you to tab 5.
43 You see there are some numbered tabs.
44 A. 5?
45
46 Q. Tab 5.
47 A. Yes.
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1
2 Q. And the second document behind tab 5. There are some