Bruce Wilson at his NSW home today. Picture: Liam Driver Source: Herald Sun.
EXCLUSIVE: JULIA Gillard's former lover Bruce Wilson has declared the Prime Minister knew nothing of about a 1990s union fraud scandal.
Breaking his silence for the first time, the former Australian Workers Union boss said the PM "knew absolutely, categorically nothing" about the fraud.
Mr Wilson, who had a four-year relationship with Ms Gillard, said: "They can go on a witch-hunt for as long as they like, and they will find nothing that will do her (Gillard) any harm.
"It's just a waste of time. They will find nothing.
"(She) knew absolutely, categorically nothing," he told the Sunday Herald Sun by phone from his NSW Central Coast home.
His revelations will help ease pressure on Ms Gillard, who has been under intense scrutiny about her alleged involvement in a union "slush fund" that was used to buy a Melbourne property where Mr Wilson, her then boyfriend, lived.
A former state secretary of the AWU in WA and Victoria, he is the alleged mastermind behind a fraud that saw up to $1 million in union funds misappropriated between 1991 and 1995.
Mr Wilson also rounded on the union "bagman" Ralph Blewitt, describing his former friend as a "very risky" person for Ms Gillard's critics to rely on.
Mr Blewitt spent two hours with Victorian police on Friday discussing his part in the fraud.
"Relying on Ralph to be your star witness is a very, very risky strategy," Mr Wilson said.
"It's not one I would be prepared to take."
"But they are going to come unstuck, big time. I can't wait to see what they come up with next.
"It's almost better than the midday movie."
Ms Gillard, who provided legal advice to Mr Wilson between 1991 and 1995, has been under intense pressure to answer questions about her involvement in the provision of advice for the incorporation of the AWU Workplace Reform Association, which she later described as a "slush fund".
It was used to launder $400,000 of the $1 million misappropriated.
Mr Wilson said: "Whatever people are alleging is a nonsense."
On Friday Mr Blewitt, a confessed "bagman", provided evidence to the Victorian fraud squad, who are considering whether to reopen the criminal investigation.
He is also planning to speak with West Australian detectives about the alleged criminal behaviour.
Mr Wilson is alleged by another AWU official, Wayne Hem, to have given him $5000 cash he said he won at a casino, and asked him to deposit the money in Ms Gillard's bank account in mid-1995.
Asked whether he had asked Mr Hem to do that, Mr Wilson said: "Look, it's possible, but I don't specifically recall."
Ms Gillard, then a salaried partner at legal firm Slater & Gordon, provided legal advice to the AWU officials, including helping them incorporate the AWU Workplace Reform Association.
Of the continuing inquiries into the affair, Mr Wilson said: "I would have thought those police have better things to do with their time."
His declarations came as Opposition Leader Tony Abbott denied there was a smear campaign against the Prime Minister, and claimed that she had questions to answer when Parliament resumes tomorrow for the final sitting of 2012.
"These are serious matters," Mr Abbott said.
"They do go to the professional integrity and the truthfulness of our Prime Minister, and I think it's perfectly appropriate for people to put further questions to her on these subjects.
"These questions are coming from many sources."
But Treasurer Wayne Swan defended Ms Gillard, attacking the character of Mr Blewitt and insisting his stories had little credibility.
- with Rosie Squires
Does Bruce (Shifty, fraudster, thug) Wilson's Statement change your thinking on the AWU scandal?
Prime Minister Julia Gillard's former boyfriend Bruce Wilson breaks his silence'Does Bruce (Shifty, fraudster, thug) Wilson's Statement change your thinking on the AWU scandal?
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