Former prime minister Julia Gillard should be cleared of any crime in her dealings with union officials who misappropriated money from a union-linked slush fund, according to a submission by counsel assisting the royal commission.
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The Royal Commission into Union Governance and Corruption has heard that Ms Gillard "did not commit any crime and was not aware of any criminality" on the part of her ex-boyfriend Bruce Wilson and his former union colleague, Ralph Blewitt.
Counsel assisting the royal commission, Jeremy Stoljar, said Mr Wilson and Mr Blewitt used the slush fund fraudulently for their own purposes and should face criminal charges.
Mr Stoljar wants the commission to recommend they be charged by prosecuting authorities in Western Australia and Victoria.
Possible criminal charges were also recommended against Health Services Union whistleblower Kathy Jackson for her alleged submission of a false claim for payment to the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Victoria in October, 2003.
Mr Stoljar submitted that Commissioner Dyson Heydon "should recommend that the relevant prosecuting authorities in Victoria consider whether she should be charged and prosecuted".
In his overview of submissions released on Friday, Mr Stoljar said some aspects of Ms Gillard's professional conduct as a solicitor "appear questionable".
"Had she adopted a more rigorous approach to the task, it might have been more difficult for Mr Wilson and Mr Blewitt to have behaved as they did," he said.
"The evidence supports a finding that Ms Gillard was the beneficiary or recipient of certain funds from Mr Wilson."
The findings regarding the former prime minister and consideration of charges against union figures came as the Victorian government formed a joint taskforce with the Abbott government to examine criminal behaviour and corruption in the building industry.
Mr Abbott said negotiations with other states were "well advanced" and announcements about other joint taskforces to tackle union corruption would be announced soon.
"There's very credible evidence of contamination of the union movement, particularly the CFMEU, by organised crime, and everyone should want us to get to the bottom of this and to put the people responsible for it behind bars," Mr Abbott said.
The CFMEU called the joint taskforce announcement a "blatant, cheap election stunt from the Napthine government, which has failed the Victorian community on jobs".
The CFMEU said it had no tolerance for corruption and would co-operate with any police probe into criminal activity within the building industry.
Mr Stoljar said senior executives at the Cbus construction industry superannuation fund, Maria Butera and Lisa Zanatta, acted unlawfully by leaking personal information about members to the CFMEU. Mr Stoljar submitted they had also acted unlawfully in giving false evidence to the royal commission.
Ms Zanatta admitted to giving perjured evidence to the commission to protect CFMEU NSW secretary Brian Parker, to whom the information was leaked.
"Ms Butera and Mr Parker also gave obviously perjured evidence," Mr Stoljar said.
An alleged death threat made against former CFMEU official Brian Fitzpatrick was disputed in commission hearings. But Mr Stoljar submitted the commission "should prefer the evidence of Mr Fitzpatrick on this point".
smh.com.au, with Nick Toscano and Henrietta Cook