Ex-Australia PM Gillard probed on slush fund
Former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard yesterday denied any wrongdoing regarding a fund used for allegedly fraudulent purposes as she was grilled at an inquiry into union corruption.
Gillard, who was ousted as Labor leader last year, has long been dogged by her actions in helping create the fund set up by her former boyfriend, Australian Workers Union official Bruce Wilson.
At the time, in 1992, she was a lawyer with Slater and Gordon and provided free legal advice to the union, including on a fund called the Workplace Reform Association, which was supposed to raise money for union elections.
Witnesses at the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption have claimed that thousands of dollars were misappropriated, with money used by Wilson to help buy a house.
There have also been allegations that he gave then- girlfriend Gillard cash from the fund to pay for renovations to her home.
Gillard has always strenuously denied acting improperly but admitted to the inquiry that in hindsight she would do things differently.
“None of us get to go in a time machine and go backwards,” she said. “Obviously, if one got to do the whole thing again, you would do things differently, given what I know now that I did not know at the time.”