Melbourne lawyer Harry Nowicki has angrily dismissed the claims of former union boss Bruce Wilson that Mr Nowicki offered him money in return for implicating Julia Gillard in the Australian Workers Union corruption scandal.
In a statement he prepared to the Royal Commission into trade union governance and corruption, Mr Wilson has alleged that he was offered $200,000 and other inducements if he fabricated a statement about who used stolen funds to pay for renovations to former prime minister Julia Gillard’s then home in an inner city Melbourne suburb.
Mr Wilson also alleges in the statement that was offered all-expenses-paid trips to Sydney and Melbourne.
Mr Nowicki told Fairfax Media that he had never offered Mr Wilson a financial inducement.
He said he had only ever offered to pay for Mr Wilson to stay in a Melbourne hotel in order to allow the former AWU boss to review documents dealing with the allegedly corrupt activities of Mr Wilson and fellow former AWU official Ralph Blewitt in the 1990s.
Mr Nowicki confirmed that he had arranged for media agent Max Markson to meet Mr Wilson to discuss the prospect of Mr Wilson selling his story to a media outlet.
‘‘I arranged for Max Markson to attend. He is an expert in clients selling stories to the media. And Max Markson, Bruce and myself had a long conference exploring whether he would tell the truth on national television,’’ he said.
Asked why he suggested Mr Wilson sell his story given that doing so may reduce Mr Wilson’s credibility as a witness, Mr Nowicki said ‘‘it was an option that I thought might appeal to Bruce’’.
But he dismissed as a ‘‘desperate rearguard action by a conman’’ the allegations about alleged financial incentives, which Mr Wilson has claimed were offered to him if he falsely implicated Ms Gillard in the AWU scandal.
Mr Wilson was dating Ms Gillard in the 1990s, during a period in which Mr Wilson allegedly stole money from a union slush fund that Ms Gillard helped to set up while working as a lawyer at firm Slater and Gordon.
Mr Nowicki investigated the AWU slush fund scandal while researching a book on the union and has since gained prominence as a source of allegations that Ms Gillard assisted Mr Wilson to carry out his fraudulent activities. Ms Gillard has repeatedly denied claims she acted improperly.
Mr Wilson’s royal commission statement was leaked to ABC radio’s John Faine on Tuesday morning.
It is understood that Mr Wilson’s statement has not yet been tendered to the unions royal commission, which resumed on Tuesday.
However, Mr Wilson is due to appear before the commission later this week where it’s expected he will be questioned on his allegations.
In the statement, Mr Wilson also said he had raised his concerns about the financial offers from Mr Nowicki to veteran investigative journalist Bob Bottom, who lives in the same town as Mr Wilson.
Mr Bottom told Fairfax Media that Mr Wilson had raised these concerns with him but that Mr Bottom could not say if they were true.
Mr Bottom also said he was concerned that Mr Wilson was attempting to use Mr Bottom’s credibility to back up his claims.
‘‘He always maintained they (Nowicki and others) offered him money to implicate Gillard in corruption. But I have no way of corroborating this and I didn’t seek to either.
‘‘I was concerned that Wilson may have used my name to give himself credibility,’’ Mr Bottom said.
In Mr Wilson’s statement, which was read out by Faine on his morning program, Mr Wilson alleges he was approached numerous times by Mr Nowicki and a QC who was not named over the claims funds from a union slush fund were used to pay for Ms Gillard’s home improvements.
‘‘There is money. We can look after you,’’ the QC said, according to the statement read out on the ABC.
‘‘There are a number of benefactors who could support you.’’
Mr Wilson alleges that a figure of $200,000 was mentioned if he was prepared to go through documents and fabricate a statement.
The benefactors are not named, but Mr Wilson in his statement alleges that he asked: ‘‘Who is funding this?’’
Mr Nowicki allegedly replied: ‘‘There is a lot of interest in this.’’
In addition to denying Mr Wilson’s claims, Mr Nowicki defended his role drafting a witness statement for royal commission witness Ralph Blewitt.
Mr Blewitt recently told the royal commission that he hadn’t read parts of his own statement as it was drafted by others.
Mr Nowicki said he had drafted Mr Blewitt’s statement because it related to ‘‘complicated events that go over several years’’.
‘‘It is a matter of an economy of time for someone to help prepare a statement . . . I wasn’t putting words into his mouth. I was drafting a document to assist Ralph and the investigators.’’
On Tuesday, Ms Gillard has declined to comment on Mr Wilson’s allegations.
Employment Minister Eric Abetz, who announced the establishment of the royal commission earlier this year, declined to comment on the allegations.
– with Deborah Gough and Judith Ireland
