Liberals pursue MP over union donations
Updated
Craig Thomson was national secretary of the union before entering parliament in 2007. (AAP: Dean Lewins, file photo)
The Federal Opposition says Labor MP Craig Thomson must explain why the union he ran failed to properly declare political spending and donations.
The Australian Electoral Commission says the Health Services Union was late declaring about $12,000 of direct donations to the Labor Party and about $1 million of other political spending.
Mr Thomson was national secretary of the union when most of the money was spent.
AEC chief legal officer Paul Pirani says the person who failed to declare the spending could be charged with a summary offence and liable for a $1,000 fine.
"My understanding of the structure of the HSU was that Mr Thomson had that position previously," Mr Pirani said.
"But there are other returns that have been lodged by the union where it appears there was somebody else, two other officers, who were involved in lodging those returns.
"It's an issue we'd need to look at."
Mr Pirani says the AEC is yet to determine who was responsible for failing to declare the spending.
"The penalty is a $1,000 fine so it's a summary offence - it's not an indictable offence - and that would be the only offence that we would be currently looking at the brief to go to DPP."
Mr Thomson says he was not involved because he had already quit his job at the union.
But Liberal Senator Michael Ronaldson says his explanation is not good enough.
"Clearly due process must be followed, but Mr Thomson's denials at this stage do not, I believe, satisfy the community," Senator Ronaldson said.
"They certainly don't satisfy the Opposition, and if they satisfy the Prime Minister then quite frankly that's a reflection on the Prime Minister himself.
"The Prime Minister has got to insist on [Mr Thomson] coming into parliament and saying that he is not the person who may be charged for breaching the disclosure provisions of the electoral act."
First posted
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