Her advice offended against section 8 of the WA Associations Incorporation Act 1987, which provides that an association cannot have a name “likely to mislead” as to the object or purpose of the association – it was a slush fund for elections, not about safe workplaces.
The name was also “identical with or likely to be confused with” the name of another entity, in this case the AWU.
There were only two members of the association, Wilson and Blewitt, and not the requisite “more than five members”.
Not surprisingly, the Commissioner of Corporate Affairs questioned the application.
Gillard wrote to the commissioner “arguing for its incorporation"… Using the authority of her standing as a partner in a law firm, Gillard was able to convince the commissioner that the association had the authority of the AWU, that it was for the purpose of workplace safety, and that it had more than five members.
It is an offence under section 43 of the act to knowingly make false and misleading statements.
Once the association was registered, it is alleged that Wilson fraudulently obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars from building companies, who believed they were dealing with the AWU, for workplace safety and training purposes.
The fraudulent activities continued with various twists and turns but the existence of this slush fund was not detected until 1996.
The federal opposition contends that in relation to the setting up of the incorporation, Wilson, Blewitt and Gillard have a case to answer under Section 43 of the act.
Section 170 of the Criminal Code is also relevant, which provides that “any person who being required ... to give information ... knowingly gives information .. that is false in a material particular is guilty of a crime ... “
Section 409 of the Criminal Code sets out the elements of the criminal act of fraud.
