I've been trying to put this debacle into some sort of hypothetical perspective. Here goes:

Imagine that some major crime gang has been menacing a city. Instead of bringing in Batman or Captain Marvel, the population have to rely on real people, especially the police.

Imagine that the local police heads do deal with the crime bosses - we'll keep bullquitting the population that we are fighting crime, you blokes can inch up your criminal activities just a little, perhaps a few more abductions and rapes, murders (even of junior police), hijackings of hospital supplies, etc., but nothing too brutal - IF you give us a monthly back-hander of, say, a million or so, broken up into payments into fifty bank accounts, which can be laundered and brought back into one account in the Caymans.

Imagine some of this million is slid across to politicians and judges who are especially favourable to the interests of the police in their respective fields. In return, the police always vote for those politicians, and 'help' judges along.

See ? Almost everybody is happy ! The crime scene is more controlled, they're happy, the police, politicians and judges are happy ! What's not to like ?

Jesus, the thought just crossed my tiny mind that ........

[Xxx]

If Shorten had been in the corporate world and had negotiated on behalf of Party A with Party B whilst taking money from Party B, and signing A to contract with B such that A lost $400m, Shorten would be looking at a very long jail term.

The unions thanks to years of labor have almost no oversight leading to corruption, extortion etc, but they do reward Labor and the greens for doing their bidding by laundering dirty money and funnelling it into their election warchests.

Shadow,

I would have thought Shorten would have been your ideal union leader, "a sellout of the workers."

I'll have to stop referring to you as 'Rumpole Of The Bailey' giving those learned legal opinions, now you are passing judgement's "Shorten would be looking at a very long jail term." Can I now refer to you as the forums Judge Jeffreys

Hi Paul,

Yes, I've been torn between whether, in this situation, to be a capitalist or a socialist: I was thinking that, if I were in Melbourne, I would buy up a truckload of baseball bats and take them around to the court for Shorten's next appearance.

But my dilemma would be:

* do I sell them for five times the wholesale price ? or

* do I give them out free ?

Either way, I know they would go like hot cakes.

In every election that I've voted in, my vote has ultimately gone to Labor, one way or the other. But from now on, my vote will go to the Australian Informal Party. Unless Nick Xenophon decides to contest every lower house seat in SA as well.

Cheers,

Joe

Paul,

I suppose my limited knowledge of the law is threatening to your complete ignorance. In the realm of the blind the one eyed man is king.

No I don't applaud the crooked deal that Shorten engineered. The problem with the dirty deals done by the unions is that the corrupt companies that deal with them get special labour rates don't only screw their workers, but put other businesses with integrity out of business so the workers on std rates lose their jobs.

Shorten is crook, and I am happy to not only prosecute the unions involved, but the companies too.

News that Opposition Leader Bill Shorten failed
to declare $40,000 in donations to the Australian
Workers' Union comes hot on the heels of Mafia-linked
donations to the Liberal Party.

As one reader in the Saturday Age, July 11, 2015 pointed
out - few people are naïve enough to believe donors are
doing it for selfless reasons, and logic demands that they
will call on elected governments for favours.

Perhaps that's the reason political parties are often
reluctant to declare such donations.

This particular reader suggests that we outlaw private
political donations and introduce a system where taxpayers
fund political advertising campaigns on an equitable basis.
As this reader states - it would be better to pay upfront for
a clean democracy than have to pay long term through this rot
in our political system.

I agree with Shadow Minister there should also be serious
media or government efforts to hold to account the companies
which made the donations.