Health Services Union severs ties with ALP

Updated

The decision of the Health Services Union to withdraw its affiliation from the ALP has overshadowed the Prime Minister's call for an internal debate on party reform.

Julia Gillard says Labor needs to modernise and that she is determined to see it happen, today putting forward a number of ideas - including opening up the process of preselecting party candidates.

But her efforts to recast the party in a new light have been dealt a blow, with the HSU publicly splitting from the ALP today.

The union says it has withdrawn its affiliation from the party in light of allegations of misuse of union funds by two ALP members.

Federal Labor MP Craig Thomson and the union's national president and ALP vice-president Michael Williamson have been accused of abusing union funds.

Mr Thomson has been fighting allegations he used a HSU credit card to pay for escort services while he was secretary of the union in 2005, and Mr Williamson is alleged to have used funds for personal purchases.

Both Mr Thomson and Mr Williamson have denied the allegations.

Earlier this month NSW Police announced there was no evidence for a criminal investigation into Mr Thomson following a referral by shadow attorney-general George Brandis.

But they have set up a strike force to investigate the union over alleged inappropriate practices.

In a statement to members, HSU divisional secretary Gerard Hayes says the split is a sign of the union's commitment to putting members' interests first.

"The council has also taken steps to demonstrate, unequivocally, the independence of the union and to reinforce to members that their interests come before anything else," he said.

"And that step is council's resolution to disaffiliate from the NSW, ACT and Victorian branches of the Australian Labor Party."

The union says the split is designed to prevent perceptions of a conflict of interest.

Tensions between the HSU and the Labor Party surfaced after national secretary Kathy Jackson raised concerns about corruption.

A shovel was left outside Ms Jackson's home, prompting her to make the statement that whoever had made the threat "picked the wrong girl".

Internal investigation

As well as splitting from Labor, Mr Hayes says the HSU has organised a team to liaise with the police investigation and manage the allegations internally.

"The council has resolved to establish a representative body of the union, made up of council president Steve Pollard, deputy general secretary (Victoria-based) Marco Bolano, and myself, divisional secretary (NSW-based) Gerard Hayes," he said.

"This team will keep council, members and sub-branches informed about the progress of the police investigation. It will also make public comments about the investigation as it sees fit."

But that decision has angered Ms Jackson, who says members of the group may be too close to Mr Williamson.

"I was amazed the council did not want an independent investigation," she said.

She has told Macquarie radio she will try to overturn the decision.

"We need to conduct our own investigation to see what's happening internally, and that investigation needs to be independent from the union," she said.

Ms Jackson says she was forced to vote against the split because it was attached to other motions she opposed, but she supports the decision to sever ties.

But Mr Hayes has defended the union's record in light of the allegations.

"The union council would like to take this opportunity to assure its members that all union staff and officers are continuing to work tirelessly for them," he said in the statement.

"It's been a difficult period recently with the media reporting on alleged inappropriate practices within the union, now the focus of an investigation by NSW Police's Strike Force Carnarvon."

Topics: alp, government-and-politics, unions, political-parties, nsw, australia

First posted