Authorities have launched fresh legal action against former union boss and Labor Party powerbroker Diana Asmar over allegations she threatened to kill a whistleblower and smear or sack three others she blamed for raising concerns over claims millions of dollars were misappropriated from the Health Workers Union.
As part of the case, the union watchdog is also seeking compensation from Asmar for the union officials or employees she allegedly targeted.
On Friday, the Fair Work Commission notified Asmar it had launched federal court civil proceedings over her suspected plotting to damage four union whistleblowers.
According to the commission, Asmar said of a female union employee: “I am going to kill her, do you understand … She’s going to regret the day she was born.”
Asmar is also accused of concocting false allegations against whistleblowers to harm their careers, and threatening to leak to the media embarrassing personal photos of one of them.
At one union meeting, Asmar is accused of saying “the biggest enemy were traitors within the union, who haven’t seen what is coming yet, but who will get what is coming, and who will regret betraying her”.
The whistleblower reprisal action is in addition to the commission’s existing civil case against Asmar over allegations that a printing business connected to her received $2.7 million in HWU member funds for no service.
The commission claimed the money instead went into private accounts, and that more than $120,000 in reimbursements was claimed without evidence of relevant business expenses.
In a statement, the FWC confirmed it had launched the new civil action against Asmar and former senior union official Lee Atkinson over allegations they “took reprisal action against several individuals because they believed, or suspected, that those individuals had made, or could make, a disclosure” of union wrongdoing.
“The ability of employees and officials to safely raise concerns about the financial management of their registered organisations, without fear of reprisals, is fundamental to ensuring organisations meet high standards of accountability to their members,” the statement said.
In 2024, this masthead first exposed the allegations Asmar had misappropriated funds from the union she headed and which represents some of Victoria’s lowest-paid workers. This masthead also revealed Asmar’s alleged efforts to punish those in the union urging that she be scrutinised.
Asmar was contacted for comment but has privately rejected the misappropriation allegations levelled against her.
Claims that Asmar abused union funds and engaged in gross misbehaviour and neglect of duty have previously led to her union branch being placed into administration. The HWU represents about 16,000 mostly low-paid health sector workers.
Court documents have previously described accusations that Asmar and her supporters within the union sought to victimise one of the four whistleblowers named in the fresh FWC proceeding, branch assistant secretary David Eden.
In order to allegedly silence and punish him, Eden was told to work from home and not contact any staff after he had sought to have material related to the commission’s investigation considered at a meeting of the union’s leadership.
In its statement, the FWC said it was seeking civil penalties against Asmar and Atkinson, including banning them from holding a union post and “requiring them to compensate the individuals for taking reprisals against them”.
The alleged targeting of suspected corruption whistleblowers has emerged as a byproduct of the scandals engulfing both the HWU and the CFMEU, and the fresh action against Asmar signals that commission chief Murray Furlong is sending a broader message to trade unions and employer groups about protecting whistleblowers.
In the CFMEU, those who speak up are routinely labelled dogs and rats and sometimes have been forced off worksites.
As part of its alleged union money abuse case against Asmar, the commission traced 170 transactions – ranging from $8000 to as high as $55,000 – involving HWU funds paid to a printing company named Southern Publishing.
After the transactions were made, the FWC has alleged, bank records showed money would be withdrawn from the company’s account. Later, “unexplained” deposits worth thousands of dollars were allegedly made into joint or individual Asmar accounts. Police are also probing the alleged misuse of the funds.
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Nick McKenzie is an Age investigative journalist who has three times been named the Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year. A winner of 20 Walkley Awards, including the Gold Walkley, he investigates politics, business, foreign affairs and criminal justice.Connect via email.
