WITNESS STATEMENT Robert John KERNOHAN 1. My full name is Robert John KERNOHAN and I was born in Ireland on the 27 July 1951. I am currently 62 years of age . 2. I am currently retired . 3. Shortly after I was born, my parents left Ireland and came to Australia and settled in Melbourne. I attended at Werribee High School and left school when I was 16 years of age. 4. I started my working life as an apprentice butcher but did not complete my apprenticeship. After that I worked as a labourer and in about 1972, I got a job at the Altona petrochemical complex in Melbourne. Whilst employed there in the same year, I joined the Australian Workers ’ Union ( ‘AWU ’) Victorian Branch . 5. The AWU has only a branch in every state. A state branch is controlled by the president, secretary and branch executives. A President is an honorary position, by that I mean it is a ‘non -paid’ position. The President’s main function is to chair branch executive meetings. 6. The Secretary is responsible for the day to day running of the branch, which includes branch affairs and this is a paid position. Both the President an d Secretary positions are elected positions. The Vice President and branch executives are also elected and are honorary positions. 7. Elections occur every four years and they are controlled by the Electoral Commission. Rank and file members of the AWU are able to vote for a person who nominates for these positions. Elections are controlled by date, back in the 1980’s; I recall that el ections were held in October. The same date applies for both state and national elections. 8. The State Executive usually consists of six rank and file members which are elected. It also includes a state President and Secretary . The Executive is responsibl e for the day to day running of the Victorian branch . The State Statement of Robert John KERNOHAN Page 1 of 29 Executive usually sits once a month however it can also sit at the discretion of the President and Secretary. 9. In regards to minutes of meetings, i n my time with the AWU, holding various positi ons such as Victorian Branch President, Branch Vice President and Federal Executive Counci llor, minutes of all formal meetings were recorded and kept on file. In terms of the branch executive, the minutes were stored within the branch. For the National E xecutive, they were stored at the National Branch head office. I don’t believe that they are destroyed after a certain time as I remember reading the minutes of meetings going back to 1901. 10. What the State Executives cannot do is determine AWU national pol icy, purchase property, or open bank accounts. These items must be approved by the National Executive . The reason for these restrictions is because the AWU national rules determine that you cannot. If someone was to breach the rules they could be charge d with a criminal matter such as theft or fraud. 11. To obtain an authorisation to say open a bank account, a state branch Secretary would need , in the first instance, to obtain approval from his Branch Executives. He /She would then need to write to the Natio nal Secretary requesting to open a bank account in the name of the AWU and ask for that request to be put before the National Executive for authorisation. If authorisation was obtained, the resolution would be given to you in writing and you would use thi s document at a bank to open an account. 12. Another thing that the state Executive is responsible for is an independent audit. Independent auditors are called once a year and the state branch finances are audited. 13. The National Executive is made up of an h onorary President which can come from anywhere in the organisation as can the National Secretary. The National Secretary is a full time paid position similar to the state branch Secretary. 14. The National Executive consisted of two elected members from each state. These positions were four year terms. A National President, Vice President and a National Secretary also sit on the National Executive. The National Statement of Robert John KERNOHAN Page 2 of 29 Executive would consist of ten members and would sit once every two months or more often as deter mined by the National Secretary or President. 15. The National President and Secretary are similar to state equivalents and are elected from AWU members from around Australia. The President is responsible for chairing the National Executive. The National Sec retary has all the power for the day to day running of the national office and the governing of the state branches. 16. If the National office wanted to open a bank account or purchase property it would need to be approved by the National Executive. 17. It is impo rtant to note that the AWU National Convention is the supreme decision making body of the Union and it overrides the National Executive. The National Convention was held annually and it comprised of elected delegates from all states in Australia. 18. My knowledge of the AWU structure such as the national and state branches is based on my experience back in the 1980’s and early 1990’s. At that time the AWU had between 70,000 and 80,000 me mbers. Things may have changed since I left the organisation in February 1997. 19. In 1976 I was elected to the position of AWU Shop Steward. The Shop Steward is a delegate for the individual workplace. By being elected to this position I was responsible for the AWU members which were at the Altona petrochemical plant. 20. In 1982 I filled a casual vacancy for the position of ‘Organiser’. I was nominated to fill this casual position by the then President and Secretary of the AWU Victorian Branch. At the time of my appointment as an Organiser, David CUNNINGHAM was the AWU Victorian Branch President and Ian CUTLER was the AWU Victorian Branch Secretary. 21. The re ason for this nominati on was that the person who held that position resigned from the AWU. An Organiser is a person who is responsible for a geographical area. My area was Gippsland which included all the off -shore oil/gas platforms. At that time we had 11 in Bass Strait. The position required me to give notice to the Altona petrochemical plant and move to an Statement of Robert John KERNOHAN Page 3 of 29 AWU office in Sale. The position of Organiser also meant that I was now a paid employee of the AWU. 22. In 1984 I decided to stand for the official O rganiser position during the elections and I won the position. 23. In 1986 I was transferred from the Gippsland area back to Melbourne and given the Organiser position for the western suburbs of Melbourne. This area included the petrochemical companies loca ted in Altona. The decision to transfer was requested by me and approved by the Victorian Branch Secretary and President with no opposition by the Branch Executive. 24. In 1986 I was also appointed to fill a casual vacancy on the National Executive of the AWU and I remained a member of the National Executive until 1989 25. On the National Executive I recall that there was Joe KEAHAN, he was the Western Australian Branch Secretary, he has since passed away. Alan BEGG, the South Australian Branch Secretary, and he was elected to the honorary National Presidency position at the time. There was John DUNNERTY and Kevin TINSON, both were from South Australia. The Tasmanian s were represented by John BUTLER and an other , but I cannot recall his name. From New South Wale s there was Ernie ECOB and Fergus LAKE. From Western Australia there was Bruce WILSON and from Queensland Errol HODDER and Bill LUDWIG. The full time position National Secretary position was held by Gill BARR and the National President was held by Allan BERGG . 26. The head office of the AWU National office was located in Sydney. 27. I first met Bruce WILSON when we were both on the National Executive. Bruce would have been on the National Executive from late 1984, early 1985 until the time he left the AWU. 28. I d id not have much to do with Bruce at the time as he was in his early 30’s and a lot younger and more militant and aggressive than me . 29. In December 1989 , Ian CUTLER was the Victorian Branch Secretary and I was the Vice President of the Victorian Branch. I was part of the Ian CUTLER , AWU Victorian Branch , team of officials that lost the branch Statement of Robert John KERNOHAN Page 4 of 29 election s to the Bob S MITH team . At that time basically everyone, except office staff lost their positions. 30. After losing m y position as an AWU Victorian B ranch Office r in late 1989 , I was immediately approached by other South Australian officials to become a full time industrial officer with the South Australia AWU branch. I took the position and my family and I moved to South Australia. I took the place of Jay WEATH ERILL who is the now Premier of South Australia. 31. I kept in t ouch with former AWU Victorian b ranch officials and members and I heard worrying reports about the management and operations of t he newly elected AWU Victorian B ranch officials. 32. In 1991 I decide d to come back to Victoria with the intention of contesting the AWU Annual Convention ballot , which was to be held in February, 1993 , and the Victorian Branch full -term elections , which were scheduled to begin in September 1993.