A $250,000 settlement for the underpayment of workers at the Peter MacCallum cancer hospital was used by the Health Services Union under Kathy Jackson to kick-start a ”slush fund” for political and industrial campaigns.
Evidence to the Royal Commission into trade unions from the former HSU No. 3 branch book-keeper, Jane Holt, detailed how $284,500 was transferred from the HSU into Ms Jackson’s fund, the National Health Development Account (NHDA).
Ms Holt’s evidence detailed a series of payments into the ”slush fund” from 2004 to 2010. She said she was told by Ms Jackson, the branch secretary, to make payments into it.
Ms Jackson rose to national prominence as a whistleblower on widespread corruption at the HSU involving former senior officials Michael Williamson, now in jail, and Craig Thomson.