OFF THE WIRE
Has Julia Gillard blackmailed the Media to cover-up her corrupt past? The Fairfax Media and News Corp scandal.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard over the last few days has gone on a full frontal attack on the Australian Media which undermines free speech in this country. Her motive is to cover-up her own corrupt past. Julie Gillard has personally phoned executives and editors at News Ltd and highly likely Fairfax Media to stop reporting on her past of helping her former boyfriend Bruce Wilson rip off the AWU of over $1,000,000. It makes one wonder if she has also phoned other media as well in her cover-up attempt.
She has done this while she has had a massive conflict on interest in that the Australian Government is currently considering conducting an enquiry into the Australian Media. One of her press secretaries told me on Friday (2/9/11) that Julia Gillard had no intentions of standing down from the decision-making process of whether or not the government will hold an enquiry.
Over the last week two pieces of evidence have come to light to say that it is highly likely that Julia Gillard knowingly helped Bruce Wilson rip off the AWU.
Background
The focus of her attack public has been on Glenn Milne and a story he wrote that was published on Monday the 29th August 2011 in The Australian which is a News Corp owned paper. The reporting and coverage of her attack in general by other news organisations has been scandalous and they have used it to go on an unjustified attack of News Corp’s Australian subsidiary News Ltd. Fairfax Media who are also involved in the cover-up have tried to point the finger squarely at News Ltd while trying to conceal their own involvement in the cover-up.
The current outbreak started right here on this site with a post I did on the 7th August 2011 (click here to read) which was subsequently picked up by Michael Smith at radio station 2ue which is owned by Fairfax Media and Andrew Bolt of News Ltd.
Time Line:
1. I did a post on the 7th August 2011 titled “Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s criminal history and her hypocrisy with WikiLeaks and Julian Assange.” The post had its good days and average days. It started to pick up pace in a big way and started going viral in the week beginning Monday the 22nd August.
2. On Friday the 26th August 2011 Michael Smith at 2ue and Andrew Bolt starting running with two of the key elements of my post. That being an interview Glenn Milne did with Julia Gillard in 2007 and the answers that she gave. They also were pushing an affidavit and its contents by Robert Kernohan which was mentioned in one of my links to the Hansard on the Victorian Parliament website. Michael Smith read out some of the affidavit on air and Andrew Bolt published some on the content on his blog site. (Click here to read the Bob Kernohan affidavit) I have also put a link in the comment section as this one does not work sometimes.
3. They took the story further than me and Michael Smith pre-recorded an interview with Robert Kernohan who is a former president of the Victorian branch of the AWU on the week-end (27th and 28th August) which was meant to go to air on Monday the 29th August. Andrew Bolt also put on his blog that he would be following up on his site on the Monday.
4. On the week-end of the 27th and 28th August Julia Gillard starting calling John Hartigan who is CEO of News Ltd which is News Corp’s Australian subsidiary. She wanted assurances that Andrew Bolt would not follow-up which John Hartigan gave her.
5. Monday 29th of August. The Australian ran Glenn Milne’s story in the The Australian and on their website. Julia Gillard called John Hartigan again and demanded it be taken down from the website and demanded a retraction. There was only one key bit that she apparently complained about but she wanted the whole article to be taken down. Julia Gillard apparently made numerous calls and sent emails and texts. (Click here to read the Glenn Milne story (“PM A Lost Cause For Warring Unions“). I have also put a link in the comment section as this one does not work sometimes.
6. Monday 29th of August: Fairfax Media pulls the Michael Smith interview with Robert Kernohan on their radio station 2ue. There was a 7 or 8 minute recording on the 2ue website from the Friday the 26th program of Michael Smith reading from Robert Kernohan affidavit. This was also pulled from their website and the previous days recording (Thursday 25th) put in its place.
7. Monday 29th of August to date: Other media start running with the story of how News Ltd were forced to pull the story. Fairfax Media pulling the Radio interview gets very little mention or no mention at all. No one asks the question: If Julia Gillard rang John Hartigan at News Ltd to pull the story who did she ring at Fairfax Media to pull the radio interview.
8. Michael Smith has tried a couple of more times to run the interview with Robert Kernohan but has so far been stopped by Fairfax Media management.
9. On Friday 2nd September I spoke to one of Julia Gillard’s press secretaries and I asked in words to the effect: “given that Julia Gillard had called John Hartigan to have the story pulled at News Ltd who at Fairfax Media had Julia Gillard called to have the Robert Kernohan interview pulled from 2UE.” The response I got from the press secretary was that he was confident that Julia Gillard would not have called Fairfax Media. He obviously has a lot more confidence than me.
10. News Ltd have since gone on the offensive and fought back to some degree. There are a few links under the Andrew Bolt heading below which show the fight-back.
As mentioned above in second paragraph of this post Julia Gillard’s press secretary also told me that she would not be standing down from the decision-making process of whether or not the Government will hold a media enquiry even though I had pointed out the massive conflict of interest given that she had threatened News Ltd to pull the story. He said words to the effect: “she would not be standing down because if every politician who had interaction with the media stood down there would be no one left.” and that “she would not have threatened Hartigan with legal action but just pointed out the errors in the story”.
Julia Gillard helped her then boyfriend rip of the AWU in the period of approximately 1993 – 1995. The Prime Minister says it is old and no longer relevant and she has addressed the issue many time before.
Well it is relevent now for many reasons and she has never addressed it in full or to any real degree.
The reasons it is relevent now:
1. In the interview in 2007 with Glenn Milne she complained about how distressing it was to be falsely accused of wrong doing in the media. As I pointed out in my post on the topic that is what she did to Julian Assange and WikiLeaks at the end of 2010.
2. That the Prime Minister has clearly been trying to cover up the current scandal of the Federal Politician Craig Thomson ripping off the Health Services Union. Given that the AWU clearly covered up her former boyfriend of ripping off the AWU and her involvement it is clearly in the public interest to look at that as it shows a history in the Union movement of ripping off their members. How many more people in the Union movement are ripping off their members that no one knows about. There should be a broad enquiry.
3. Given that Julia Gillard has tried to close down media coverage of her involvement in ripping off the AWU it is in the public interest to have a good look at it to clear the air so the public can have confidence in the Prime Minister. Which the Prime Minister does not want to do.
Julia Gillard has never fully addressed the issue:
I have been aware of her history in this matter since 2005/2006. I have never come across anywhere in media reports where she has fully addressed the matter in any detail. Just vague palm off’s, she generally says that it happened a long time ago and that she had already addressed the matter. Even the 2007 interview is only brief and as I have already pointed out in a previous post what she says beggar’s belief.
Michael Smith on 2ue has also been following up this week with questions to the PM which she has avoided answering. On the 2ue site it shows the email correspondence to and from the PM’s office this week:
He asks her a number of questions like:
30/8/11
Did you ever create or cause any legal entity(ies) to be created with the letters AWU or words Australian Workers Union in its/their title(s)?
Did you establish or in any way instruct any person to establish any bank accounts for the Australian Worker’s Union?
Have you ever paid back any money to the Australian Workers’ Union?
The response from the PM’s office the next day “These are matters that have been dealt with on the public record over a period of fifteen years.” and after another email from Michael Smith the PM’s office replies “The Prime Minister, as you note, has made comments about these matters in the past. I’d refer you to her comments.”
Michael Smith sends another email on Wednesday the 31st August: May I ask that you make good on the offer you made below to refer me to her comments? Where are they, what are the comments that you are happy for me to use?
And the PM’s office responds with: Well actually Julia Gillard’s office did not respond even though Michael Smith had staff following it up. She is ducking for cover. Very similar to the Craig Thomson affair as he has gone all silent as well. I would put a link to the Michael Smith emails but they will probably go down in a day or so based on current form. He does seem to be the only one following it up so if you have the time his show is on 2ue M-F from midday to 3pm.
Fairfax Media and Michael Smith
Fairfax Media have at this point acted disgracefully and have buckled to Julia Gillard’s pressure. While they have not closed down Michael Smith totally they have stopped his interview with Robert Kernohan going to air. Maybe they will never let it be broadcast or maybe they think if they hold it back long enough even if it does go to air it will have no impact.
I called Fairfax Media on Friday to ask who there had spoken to Julia Gillard and who had stopped the Kernohan interview going to air. A person at their PR company Access PR told me Peter Fray was probably the person to speak to and she would call me back. She never got back to me.
I spoke to Michael Smith on Friday as well and he said he had “no comment” to make as why the story had been pulled. I had spoken to an assistant at 2ue prior to that and she said that because it had not been approved yet. Well it was meant to go to air on the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday but kept getting pulled. Andrew Bolt I recall said on his blog that it had already been legally approved.
In reporting in their papers Fairfax Media have not said why the 2ue interview has not gone to air. In one report at least which is titled “Bombshell for Gillard explodes under Murdoch press” which was printed on Tuesday the 30th of August they point the finger at News Ltd but make no mention of the fact that they are involved in the cover-up. (Click here to read) It says in another article in the Fairfax Press where they put the boot into News Ltd “Michael Smith of Fairfax Media’s 2UE, who decided yesterday not to discuss Milne’s column or read the promised statutory declaration” Well that is a lie and there is no mention of the Kernohan interview, Fairfax Media management pulled the interview and shut it down. (Click here to read)
Who pulled the pin at Fairfax Media? Well the likely suspects are the directors who are:
- Roger Corbett AO, Chairman
- Michael Anderson
- Nicholas Fairfax
- Greg Hywood, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director
- Sandra McPhee
- Sam Morgan
- Linda Nicholls AO
- Robert Savage AM
- Peter Young AM
Or maybe it was Gail Hambly who is the Group General Counsel for Fairfax Media. I thought that given that the likes of John Hartigan get mentioned in this story it would not be right for me not to name and shame the directors of Fairfax Media who are overseeing a cover-up and aiding in the denial of free speech.
Andrew BoltAndrew Bolt had a lot of what was on his site pulled down but has written two posts on what happened since that are well worth a read.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s hand overplayed
Protecting Gillard: ABC sacks Milne
There is also a good story in The Australian which details the phone calls between the Prime Minister Julia Gillard and John Hartigan and Chris Mitchell who is the editor of The Australian.
8am call that put Julia Gillard’s old news on front page
Other Media Reports
As I have stated above, reports in other media of what has actually transpired have been disgraceful, full of errors and sometimes out-right defamatory in an attempt to bag News Ltd, Glenn Milne and Andrew Bolt. Amazingly Michael Smith and Fairfax Media rarely get mentioned.
ABC – Jeremy Thompson
The ABC on Thursday sacked Glenn Milne from appearing further on their Insiders program for not meeting its editorial standards. That is a joke as Julia Gillard was clearly trying to shut down any reporting of her past before the Glenn Milne story was published. The time-line above shows that Julia Gillard was calling John Hartigan at News Ltd on the Saturday and Sunday to stop Andrew Bolt from reporting on it anymore. It does not really mater what Glenn Milne said in his story because as long as it mentioned Julia Gillard’s corrupt past it was going to be pulled.
Jeremy Thomson did a report on the ABC website on the Tuesday the 30th of August which was updated on the 31st which is nothing more than a joke. There are solid grounds for News Ltd and Andrew Bolt to sue for defamation.
He says in relation to a section Andrew Bolts blog ” It began: ”On Monday, I’m tipping, a witness with a statutory declaration will come forward and implicate Julia Gillard directly in another scandal involving the misuse of union funds.”
“No such witness has come forward.”
Well Jeremy Thomson is either a very sloppy and lazy reporter or he is straight out lying. A person has come forward, Robert Kernohan, and the interview was meant to go to air on Michael Smith program on 2UE. Why did Jeremy Smith not know that? Why did he not report anything about Fairfax Media pulling the story? Why did he not ask who Julia Gillard had spoken to at Fairfax Media?
He also says: “The article, written by journalist Glenn Milne – but later repudiated by the newspaper – claimed Ms Gillard had been unknowingly implicated in a “major union fraud” while she was working as a lawyer in Melbourne before she entered parliament.”
Well they did not repudiate the whole story just a small part. Which even says it at the end of the story. (Click here to read the full story)
Given that the ABC sacked Glenn Milne (they say he was not sacked because he was not actually an employee) from the Insiders program for “not meeting its editorial standards” what will they do to Jeremy Thomson?
Crickey.com.au
I am a fan of the Crikey news website. A democracy needs a diverse media and they have some good articles on there. But a posting by Andrew Cook is a disgrace which is titled “Milne debacle: how a 16-year-old story was spiked by The Oz”. It starts off “Glenn Milne has egg all over his face after the re-hired columnist filed an error-filled op-ed reviving discredited allegations that Prime Minister Julia Gillard had somehow been an accomplice to her one-time partner Bruce Wilson’s alleged fraud.”
The claims are not discredited at all. What because Julia Gillard denies them? How many criminals admit their crime?
Andrew Cook goes on to say “While a popular topic in the right-wing blogosphere, the allegations are rarely taken seriously by professional journalists.” Really, has Andrew Cook done a survey has he? I wouldn’t mind a look. When people write dribble like that it is because they can not attack the content so they attack the messenger.
In relation to current media attention on Gillard’s past in helping rip off the AWU he says “The fresh outbreak was three days in the making.” Well it actually started with my post on the 7th of August. Mr Cook obviously can not use the internet.
He goes on to say “In fact, the PM has consistently shot down the suggestions with supreme force each time they get trotted out.” Well where is her detailed side of the story Mr Cook. You obviously have a copy, can I see it.
Andrew Cook goes on to try to discredit Robert Kernohan. He might be right but he makes no mention of the response that Julia Gillard gave to the Glenn Milne interview in 2007 that beggars belief. Maybe Andrew Cook believes her answers. The reality is that Julia Gillard openly admits helping rip off the AWU so even though she says she did not do it knowingly, it should still be scrutinised even more so, when she has never given a detailed account of what happened. But a simple denial is good enough for Mr Cook. (Click here to read the full article)
The question that is going through my mind is how many media organisations has Julia Gillard called to close down the reporting of her grubby history.
We know she called News Ltd many times over three-days, firstly to close down Andrew Bolt and then Glenn Milne. Given that and the conduct of Fairfax Media logic says that she also called them. The ABC sacking Milne seems very odd to me given what I have already written above. And what have the TV stations Channel 7, Channel 10, Channel 9 and SBS been saying? Not much to my knowledge or maybe that has something to do with the $250 Million election year bribe Tony Abbott has previously spoken about.
Given that a lot of the material has been taken down from the net has Julia Gillard also contacted Google, Yahoo and Bing to make sure that negative articles do not show up in a search or at least far back in the search results. It does happen, so why wouldn’t Julia Gillard try it given her current form.
The Media Enquiry
The Federal Government is currently evaluating whether or not we should have a Media Enquiry. I have no doubt we should and the first port of call should be Julia Gillard and her intimidation of the Australian Media. She should have never called Hartigan and once she did she had an obligation to put out a press release stating given her fight with News Ltd and Fairfax Media she would no longer be part of the decision-making process on whether or not to have an enquiry or its potential terms of reference.
In 2007 Julia Gillard said she was young and naive when she had a huge conflict of interest of having a sexual relationship with Bruce Wilson and taking instructions off him for her client the AWU. As I have previously said, when she started having a relationship with Wilson she should have handed the AWU account to someone else at the law firm Slater and Gordon. But her excuse was she was young and naive. What is her excuse now she has a massive conflict of interest but is still the main decision maker of whether or not to have the media enquiry. Is Julia Gillard still claiming to be young and naive.
The two pieces of evidence that I spoke of at the start to say that it is highly likely that Julia Gillard knowingly helped Bruce Wilson rip off the AWU. 1. Her personal jihad to close down the reporting on the story and 2. Her lie about previously addressing the issue. If she had she would have responded to Michael Smith’s emails and said where she had previously addressed them.
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