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We’ve all heard a lot about Jacksonville, but have you ever been to nearby Lawler Creek? Tour-guide Peter Wicks takes us for a day trip.
OVER the course of the last couple of months I have been looking into the goings on within some parts of the HSU — and into a place I have often referred to as ‘Jacksonville’.
Today, I wanted to take a small peek into another town that borders Jacksonville. A place by the name of Lawler Creek.
I thought it might be beneficial to look at some of the residents of Lawler Creek.
Most of you will know Michael Lawler from my previous posts on the HSU. Michael is the Vice President of Fair Work Australia, which seems to have unwittingly become based in Lawler Creek, despite attempts by its President, Iain Ross, to see that it doesn’t. Michael is also the partner of Kathy Jackson.
Kathy, is of course Craig Thomson’s accuser, Craig is an MP in a place that I like to refer to as the “real world”. It seems Craig must have done something in the past to upset Kathy, and we all know what they say about women scorned and hell’s fury…
Kathy is also the Whistle-blowing, cheque req signing, credit card thrashing, secretary of the number 3 branch of the HSU — or at least she was until an administrator was appointed by the Federal Court to clean up the mess.
Kathy Jackson and Michael Lawler
Michael, of course, is devoted to Kathy; he helps her with all sorts of things around the house, and offers words of advice. It has been alleged that Michael even helps Kathy with affidavits for Federal Court, and is rumoured to have written speeches for Kathy to give at HR Nicholls’ events for her new Liberal Party pals.
It has even been reported that he allegedly hacked the emails of former HSU employee’s and made allegedly threatening phone calls on her behalf. Indeed, Michael is even reported to have initiated a police investigation into the HSU for Kathy — as a “private citizen”, despite being Australia’s second most senior industrial judge.
Ain’t love grand?
Of course, now that things are starting to turn around, Michael now believes he should stay out of it. After years of being so deeply involved in the HSU debacle he needs a snorkel to find clean air, it has now become suddenly inappropriate for him to comment on the HSU — other than to say he is supporting Kathy.
It is sweet that he supports Kathy in the face of overwhelming evidence against her. Being a member of the Jacksonville Supporters’ Club, however, is turning out to be a lonely hobby. The only sounds Michael will hear at those meetings will be the sound of his own voice echoing and bouncing back at him off the walls. That is, unless Peter Reith drops in, of course…
Michael now wants us to know that he had absolutely no influence over the investigation by his organisation. The investigation that devoted most of its findings to speculation on the guy his partner was accusing, Craig Thomson — and devoted little space to his partner Kathy’s, or her ex husband Jeff’s, activities. A professional investigation over 4 years by an industry watchdog that ignored, or somehow missed, mountains of evidence — but yet a blogger found in two weeks from his study.
I don’t see how anybody could have suspected Michael would have influenced the investigation; it all sounds pretty kosher to me….
Another regular visitor to Lawler Creek is Tony Abbott, the Opposition Leader.
Tony has always been a fan of Lawler Creek, however recently he enjoyed a holiday in nearby Jacksonville. Whilst in Jacksonville, he proclaimed to the world that the mayor of Jacksonville, Kathy Jackson, was courageous, heroic, and worthy of our admiration.
Going back to when Tony worked under John Howard, Tony was even in a position where he was able to appoint Michael Lawler to his current position — as the Vice President of Fair Work Australia.
Now, a few short weeks later, Tony has seen the error of his ways. Rather than admit it, though, Tony has chosen to retreat from Jacksonville, and even Lawler Creek, and move back to the safety of his home town of Abbott’s Knob. Is Abbott’s Knob even safe enough to escape the fallout — that is the question.
Two young residents of Jacksonville are Michael’s sons, Matthew and Donald. These two lads were unfortunate enough to become embroiled in Jacksonville when Kathy gave them a job at the HSU. Still, at least they got a much higher rate of pay than the average union member.
Another citizen of Lawler Creek is John, Michael’s brother.
Australian Crime Commission CEO John Lawler
John is the CEO of the Australian Crime Commission, with a list of accolades as long as his arm. John is a man who is greatly respected, and would more than likely shudder at his potential sister-in-law’s predicament.
John and Michael’s father is Sir Peter Lawler — and Sir Peter, as his title suggests, is a man with an impeccable record and an esteemed work history.
Sir Peter is Liberal Party royalty, to put it mildly; not only that, he is a highly respected member within the Catholic Church and was knighted by the Queen in 1981.
Sir Peter worked for Prime Minister Robert Menzies, serving as Deputy Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and Secretary of the Department of the Special Minister of State.
After finishing his career as a domestic public servant, Peter was appointed as the Australian Ambassador to Ireland and Australia’s first ever Ambassador to the Holy See during 1983-1986. The Holy See, of course, is the official government of the Catholic Church in Rome.
Sir Peter is also a Patron of The Australian Family Association, which is a Catholic lobby group with allegedly strong ties to Opus Dei and the far right “Uglies’” faction of the Liberal Party.
Reliable sources tell us Sir Peter is also a close personal friend of Tony Abbott’s father.
Sir Peter Lawler, from the National Library
With the connections to Robert Menzies, the Queen, the Liberal Party, the far right – and of course the Catholic Church and Vatican – I can only imagine how excited Tony Abbott must have been to appoint Sir Peter’s son to the Vice President’s position at Fair Work Australia. It must have felt good to give the important role to somebody so like minded.
Michael has six siblings in total in Lawler Creek, of which the previously mentioned John is one. The others have maintained a low profile — although I am led to believe another brother is a high ranking police officer in NSW.
The problem for those living in Lawler Creek is that the impending explosion in Jacksonville is going to send massive fallout across its border. This could well damage the name Lawler Creek forever in the public’s eye. A town that was once seen as family friendly and clean could forever be known as smutty and smeared with dirt from the fallout.
Other villages that share a border with Jacksonville are already seeing their populations turn their backs to flee. Villages such as Pyne Gap, Brandis’ Bush and Abbott’s Knob have been startlingly quick to disassociate themselves from those in Jacksonville.
For the residents of Lawler Creek though, I fear it may be too late.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
25 Comments
Good to have you back. I look forward to these instalments. The Opposition has gone quiet on Slipper and Thomson’s for now; too busy spilling crocodile tears for asylum seekers.
In the SMH today, Kate McKlymont has created a story from a denial by Craig Thomson that he had anything to do with the doctoring of a Wikipedia entry relating to the HSU.
I may be wrong, but to my knowledge she has yet to acknowledge the existence of Peter Wick’s series of articles on the HSU & Kathy Jackson. I think she briefly mentioned KJ’s appearance in court once.
If I were CT I may be starting to wonder if there is something scary about women whose first names are Kate or Kathy and why they are out to get him.
No you aren’t wrong Frank, but why she wrote that crap is beyond me.
Maybe Mcklymont is a pseudonym for Jackson?
Actually, Kate McC did mention IA in her article today. She has been in touch with Peter and apparently is very supportive of IA’s work.
She writes in today’s article:
Over the past weeks someone from the HSU has been leaking damaging internal HSU documents relating to the spending habits of Kathy Jackson’s former husband Jeff Jackson.
The recipient of the material is Peter Wicks, an ALP member and former Labor candidate for the seat of Hawkesbury, who has a blog called WixxyLeaks and is a contributor to the website Independent Australia.
‘Last week approximately 3 years’ worth of credit card statements landed in our laps. The credit card is for … HSU Branch number 1 – and belonged to Jeff Jackson,” wrote Wicks on the Independent Australia website.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/cutting-words-as-hsu-war-rages-on-in-cyberspace-20120629-2180e.html#ixzz1zEkI88hx
It is great to have you back Peter. I always enjoy your articles. I wait with great anticipation for the eventual fall out of the investigations into KJ, ML, JJ etc. Let us hope the residents of Abbott’s Knob, Pyne Gap and Brandish Bush feel the effects of the coming storm or will they be too well insulated.
‘… Sir Peter, as his title suggests, is a man with an impeccable record and an esteemed work history.’
‘as his title suggests’ – LOL
Finally the tide starting to turn in the old media world.
Sir Peter of Lawler Creek was obviously negligent in not instilling in his offspring Michael the golden rule of Noblesse Oblige ie the obligation of those of high rank to be honorable and generous, “for whom much is given, much shall be demanded.”
Michael Lawler’s conduct was obviously lacking in generosity and was far from honorable in his dealings with the other HSU members, besides Kathy Jackson.
The SMH, Kate McClymont unlike Tony Abbott who has had enough canny to step back, is still beating a dead horse on the CT affair, she intends to milk it for all its got or she loses relevance.
It mine “My precious, mine, mine alone” like Gollum she has lost the plot and is obsessed.
I received a reply email from kate McClymont today. She said she had been speaking with Peter Wicks over the past couple of days. Even though she is now going on 2 weeks holiday I hope they remain in contact and that she continues to work with Peter to make people aware of what has happened to HSU funds under KJ’s watch.
What people need to know about sociopaths, who are far more common that the general public realise, is that they destroy so many around them before they self destruct (which is inevitable).
They can be charming. They can beguile people and are amazingly convincing. The problem is they have a total lack of empathy but they can mimic emotions. They are always right and others always wrong.
I wonder if this profile fits anyone living in Jacksonville?.
Mizz McClymont’s Wikipedia tale was a bit over the top.
Pretty boring in fact full on the sort of nonsense that goes on with the oh so self important self-appointed net encyclopedia.
However it was ideal to introduce all the material that has appeared on IA (as predicted by me!). At least she had the good grace to give credit.
Fairfax is about to sack how many staff and Katey Mack is going on holidays? And she writes about the real world as if she’s a participant therein.
I’m sure with your NSW Police contacts Kate you will be able to find out what role Kathy Jackson’s partner Michael Lawler had, if any and as a private citizen of course, in the “raid” on the HSU offices. Any developments there Kate? You’re going on a break (not Long Leave I hope) has sort of left us hanging here.
Maybe you’re heading off to Eddie Obied’s property up near Mudgee for a bit of a break? I’m sure he’ll be glad to see you.
That is nice that Kate McC is supportive of Peter’s investigative work. However it would be pleasing to see something from the Fairfax journos making the connection between KJ’s ‘whistleblowing’ of Craig Thomson and her other dealings is is exactly as described by CT in his Parliamentary statement.
And deriving from that, acknowledging the possibility that the behind-the-scenes carryings on of Christopher Pyne and his leader in regard to CT are absolute rubbish and fit a pattern established by this Opposition in the Slipper affair, their hyperbole in regard to Climate Change, their cynicism in regard to asylum seekers, reaching the obvious conclusion that this is a mob you wouldn’t want looking after your pet dog, let alone the country.
Oscar, she had no choice but to give credit. It’s called attribution and you do it when you report on information that other people have obtained. Like, for example, when you haven’t done your job and a forty-something blogger from the Hawkesbury with a day job does it for you.
We should have a whip-around to pay for Peter Wicks to be nominated for a Walkley. Costs $260 and Donovan has to OK it according to the MEAA rules.
McClymot’s snarky damning-with-faint-praise of Peter Wicks does her no credit. And she has form on over-egging the truth: http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s2692250.htm
And someone has been a wake up to her for some years now: http://www.australiasworstjournalist.com.au/media/newspaper/sydney-morning-herald-the-age/7-kate-mcclymont
I think it’s time the Kate McClymots of this world had to get a job in the “real world”. Just do everyone a favour and shut the SMH down, it’s just an appendix to Domain.com
“Actually, Kate McC did mention IA in her article today. She has been in touch with Peter and apparently is very supportive of IA’s work.”
Is this the same Kate McC who used a subpoena to obtain a photocopy of Craig Thomson’s drivers licence and then distributed a photo of a falsified credit card slip alongside this photocopy?
How wonderful to think she approves of your work!
Would this be the same Kate McC whose legal team used discovery processes to see if Craig Thomson retained any credit card statements, and then when he had none promptly accused him of hiding evidence and proceeded to submit their own dodgy versions?
She managed to bury newsworthy information about Kathy Jackson and the fact that mysteriously Jeff Jackson appeared to visit the EXACT SAME brothels as Craig Thomson in a completely unnewsworthy article about a pointless online spat on a Wikipedia talkpage.
How many people came away from that article thinking Craig Thomson has been vandalising Wikipedia articles and making death threats?
In reality the IP address was probably Kate McC herself trying to discredit Mr Thomson.
See how easy it is? Evidence? Like Kate McC I don’t need no stinkin’ evidence.
Looks like Lawler Creek is a minor tributary of Shit Creek. I wonder if they remembered to bring their paddles?
“Is this the same Kate McC who used a subpoena to obtain a photocopy of Craig Thomson’s drivers licence and then distributed a photo of a falsified credit card slip alongside this photocopy?”
Yes. The same Kate McC (although I prefer to call her Dolt McClydolt, you’ll see why) who, when confronted with the information that the credit slip was fake, responded: “If it’s fake then why did he pay it?” *facepalm*
Kate McClymont : Sydney Morning Herald
Friday, 09 October 2009 11:41
Sydney Morning Herald – Sept 12, 2009
The Age – Sept 12, 2009
This journalist deliberately perpetrates stories which are errors of fact, but has her own brand of sarcasm and seeks to be malicious.
Even with the opportunities to verify facts, she fails to do so and plagiarises the tabloid media, thus continuing the errors. To do so when she know they are incorrect, smacks of gross dishonesty. You are unlikely to be contacted as she can better fabricate a story if she is not deliberately informed that it is false.
Is there any truth in the rumour that the much mentioned journo who viciously attacked a private eye who found evidence that the working girl’s claims were a fraud, under the umbrella of his political ambitions, is also the partner of a private investigator who has tangled with said gumshoe and writes his own ‘private eye’ blog regularly attacking his rival because of perceived successes?
Surely MSM journalists would never do such a thing and would reveal such an associations as their code of ethics requires.
Other noted successes of Frank Monte
1. Tagging the dingo that took Azaria Chamberlain
2. Jotting down the number plate of the Chinese submarine that got Harold Holt.
3. Demonstrating that Jeffrey Gilham’s breath smelt of kerosene by his neighbour, whereas the accelerant used to burn down his parents’ house was petrol.
4. Locating Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad.
In light of the above list of superb achievements we can place into proper context that Frank Monte had nothing whatsoever to do with the Victorian police informing a Gold Coast sex worker that DFAT records showed she was out of the country during the dates in question.
What is this about a private eye.
Imagine the delight on Sir Peter and Lady Lawler’s faces when Kathy and her thug Marco dropped in on their whistle-stop promotional tour up the NSW South Coast in May. I’m sure it wasn’t just the door bell that was ringing
Fantastic, now I know why “The faceless men of the ALP” is once again grist for the Right wing media machine thirty years after it was first used to ridicule a newly elected Labor leader in Gough Whitlam during the late 60′s early 70′s.. No doubt Sir Peter was instrumental in that hatchet job as well. They talk about Labor’s dirty tricks, but they’re mere amateurs. The Libs were born to it. It’s in their DNA. They think it their Right, just like they think they were born to rule. Sir Peter must be the ultimate faceless man of the lieberal Party, His name wasn’t even on my radar before this piece, just as he intended it. He’s good at his job, hypocrite and sleaze rolled into one. No wonder he’s royalty.
[...] KMPG report was completed with the co-operation of all of the FWA staff except one, Michael Lawler, Kathy Jackson’s fiancé and appointee of Tony Abbott. However, Michael has stated that he had no involvement in the investigation, despite evidence that [...]