Thursday, November 22, 2012

The Age and the Prime Minister

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has challenged The Age over its reporting of her involvement in the Australian

Workers Union controversy.

Law firm Slater & Gordon has also claimed that The Age misrepresented its position on the matter.

On 13 November The Age published two articles. The first was headlined 'Firm contradicts Gillard's claim'.

The opening paragraph stated: 'Law firm Slater & Gordon has contradicted Julia Gillard's claim that she

was not in charge of legal work for the purchase in 1993 of a Fitzroy property later found to have been bought

with stolen union money.'

Further paragraphs stated: 'Slater & Gordon managing director Andrew Grech has confirmed Ms Gillard

"acted directly'' in the conveyancing work on the property purchase'. "The only documentary evidence Slater

& Gordon was in possession of was that Ms Gillard acted directly for Mr Blewitt in relation to a conveyancing

matter, a union dispute and a defamation matter,'' he said.' (The full article can be readhere)

The quote from Mr Grech was taken from a complaint laid with the Australian Press Council. The

Ageaccepts that the statement should have been kept confidential, under Press Council rules, and has

apologised for that breach. It is repeating the statement only because of the demands made to apologise

for the story.

Slater & Gordon now says that its statement did not mean that Ms Gillard had ''direct responsibility for the

conduct of the Blewitt conveyancing matter''.

The Age has asked Slater & Gordon to clarify what ''acted directly for Mr Blewitt in relation to a conveyancing

matter'' means. The law firm has not answered this question but The Age accepts that its statement may

not contradict the Prime Minister's denial that she was in charge of the conveyancing file.

The Prime Minister believes that The Age, in a separate story on 13 November, implied that she gave legal

advice to assist the perpetration of a fraud. Ms Gillard acknowledges that she gave legal advice regarding

the establishment of the Workplace Reform Association (WRA). The WRA was later used by others to

commit fraud.

The Age did not intend to imply that Ms Gillard was involved in any fraud or that she had knowledge of it.

The Prime Minister has also told The Age that the claim in the second story that she organised finance for

the conveyancing is wrong. While it is clear that the PM had some involvement with the conveyancing file,

The Age did not claim that she personally arranged the $150,000 loan from her then firm, Slater & Gordon

Thursday, November 22, 2012