SEARCHES AND SEIZURES – AUSTRALIA

Cash to fight subpoena over union raid tip-off

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 31-May-18

Shadow workplace relations minister Brendan O’Connor has repeated his call for Jobs Minister Michaelia Cash to resign over police raids on the offices of the Australian Workers’ Union in 2017. Cash has been issued with a subpoena to give evidence in the AWU’s legal action over the raids, which were undertaken as part of an investigation into the union’s political donations. Cash has described the subpoena as a "stunt" that is aimed at protecting Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, who was the AWU’s national secretary when the donations were made.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, GETUP LIMITED

Cash could face court over raids

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Adam Gartrell
The Age – Page: 9 : 16-Mar-18

Daniel Walton, the national secretary of the Australian Workers’ Union, says it will seek to subpoena Jobs Minister Michaelia Cash to appear before a hearing into a police raid on the union’s offices in October 2017. The AWU also wants to subpoena Cash’s former media adviser, David De Garis, who resigned after admitting that he told the media about the raid, as well as the Fair Work Ombudsman’s former media director, Mark Lee. The latter has denied leaking details of the raid to De Garis.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, AUSTRALIA. REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, GETUP LIMITED

Cash fails in bid to have AWU raid subpoenas thrown out

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 21-Dec-17

The Federal Court has ruled that Employment Minister Michaelia Cash must provide the Australian Workers’ Union with access to documents relating to a police raid on its offices in October. The AWU had sought access to communications between Cash’s office and the Registered Organisations Commission, which had authorised the raids as part of its investigation into an AWU donation to activist group GetUp.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIA. REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN

Cash staves off calls to quit, calls in cops

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Phillip Coorey, David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 27-Oct-17

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash continues to attract scrutiny over allegations that her office leaked details of a police raid on the offices of the Australian Workers’ Union. She has suggested that the Australian Federal Police should investigate the source of the leak, and raised the possibility that it may have been the Registered Organisations Commission. Meanwhile, the Opposition has accused Cash of misleading Parliament after stating that her office was not the source of the leak. Her media adviser subsequently resigned after admitting that he had given the media advance notice of the raids.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN

AWU refusal ‘triggered raids’

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Brad Norington, Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 26-Oct-17

A senior adviser to Employment Minister Michaelia Cash has resigned after admitting that he leaked details of a police raid on Australian Workers’ Union offices to the media. The Opposition has called for Cash to resign after she had told a Senate estimates committee that her office was not responsible for the leak. Meanwhile, Registered Organisations Commissioner Mark Bielecki has told the committee that the police raids were prompted by concerns that AWU document could be destroyed. He also said an ROC investigation into the AWU may not have been needed if the union had complied with a request to provide the documents in August.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, GETUP LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION

Raids over Shorten donations

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Brad Norington, Ewin Hannan, Simone Fox Koob
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 25-Oct-17

Australian Workers’ Union offices in Sydney and Melbourne have been the subject of simultaneous police raids. Australian Federal Police officers executed warrants issued to the Registered Organisations Commission as part of its investigation into donations the union made when Opposition Leader Bill Shorten was the head of the AWU. Police are believed to have seized documents relating to the 2006 and 2008 financial years, including the minutes of AWU meetings. The raids are said to have been prompted by concerns that the documents could be destroyed. The AWU intends to challenge the validity of the warrants in court.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, GETUP LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, ARNOLD BLOCH LEIBLER, ACTU

Corruption in daycare costs $1bn

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Rick Morton
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 4-Oct-16

Australia’s family daycare industry is under scrutiny amid revelations of widespread fraud in the sector. Leaked documents show that 13 family daycare providers have been charged with fraud in the last 10 months, while the Australian Federal Police have seized some $A8m worth of assets. It is estimated that fraudulent conduct in the sector has cost taxpayers around $A1bn in the last two years, and there are concerns that some of this money could have been redirected to terrorist organisations such as Islamic State by their supporters in Australia.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF EDUCATION AND COMMUNITIES, VICTORIA. DEPT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Bullion and coins seized as police spread the net wider

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Neil Chenoweth
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 7-Sep-16

Australia’s Justice Minister Michael Keenan has confirmed that a joint operation has carried out a series of raids in Queensland against clients of Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca. The Australian Federal Police, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and Australian Taxation Office operation resulted in the seizure of 170kg of silver bullion and coins as part of the investigation into the use of offshore tax havens by high net worth individuals.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIAN CRIMINAL INTELLIGENCE COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, MOSSACK FONSECA, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, INTERNATIONAL CONSORTIUM OF INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTS

AFP raids Conroy’s office, ALP adviser’s house

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 1 & 9 : 20-May-16

The Opposition’s legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus says an Australian Federal Police raid on the office of senator Stephen Conroy may be unprecedented. Police are believed to have been seeking leaked documents concerning the national broadband network. The raids also included the home of Andy Byrne, an adviser to Labor communications spokesman Jason Clare and a former aide of Conroy during his tenure as communications minister.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, NBN CO LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE

ASIC’s fresh bid to access telco intercepts

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Annabel Hepworth
The Australian – Page: 17 : 27-Oct-14

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) is urging the Government to grant it greater powers in the areas of search warrants and access to telecommunications data. The watchdog argues that traditional telephone intercepts are decreasing in importance due to the rise of online social media and the national broadband network roll-out. It also says it current search warrant procedures are not "entirely satisfactory" as enshrined in the ASIC Act and the Crimes Act. ASIC’s demands are being criticised by the Institute of Public Affairs

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS LIMITED, NBN CO LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, SKYPE TECHNOLOGIES SA, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF COMPANY DIRECTORS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA