More than $320,000 from a slush fund linked to the powerful Transport Workers Union was used to bankroll the election of officials in other organisations including the troubled Health Services Union in NSW and help topple the leadership of its own Queensland branch, a royal commission has heard.
The financial details of slush fund the McLean Forum emerged at the royal commission into union corruption on Wednesday as the TWU was accused by a former staff member of illegally misusing union resources.
Former TWU media officer Michael Wong alleged he was paid by the NSW branch of the union while working on a campaign to unseat the TWU's Queensland secretary, Hughie Williams, in 2010.
Counsel assisting the royal commission Jeremy Stoljar flagged looking at the possible illegal misuse of union resources, noting the Fair Work Act ''provides that an organisation commits an offence if it uses, or allows to be used, its property or resources to help a candidate against another candidate".
Mr Stoljar said nearly $200,000 appears to have been spent on the campaign that defeated Mr Williams, the incumbent state secretary of 18 years.
During cross examination, Thomas Pacey, a former official with the TWU, said the union's national secretary, Tony Sheldon, told him "Hughie Williams needed to go, that the union was bleeding numbers and that it would be beneficial for the union movement".
Former TWU chief of staff Daniel Mookhey estimated the McLean Forum spent $175,000 to $200,000 in cash on the successful bid to remove Mr Williams.
The royal commission heard more than $120,000 from the McLean Forum slush fund was spent fighting the Health Services Union NSW and Flight Attendants' Association of Australia elections in 2012.
Mr Stoljar said the McLean Forum was set up as a ''fighting fund'' from contributions from union officials and staff in the TWU's national and NSW offices. It has three directors, including Mr Sheldon.
''This is a 'fighting fund' that appears primarily, if not exclusively, to fund candidates in other unions' elections,'' Mr Stoljar said.
The royal commission heard the McLean Forum spent more than $50,000 on the campaign of Gerard Hayes and Andrew Lillicrap, who successfully contested the 2012 HSU NSW elections.
The McLean Forum spent more than $70,000 on the campaigns of Jo-Ann Davidson and Greg Broome in the FAAA elections in the same year.
The forum authorised Mr Mookhey to co-ordinate the campaign that resulted in Ms Davidson retaining her position as secretary of the FAAA's domestic division.
"The campaign material generated was slick and expensive," Mr Stoljar said.
Documents produced showed several large deposits, totalling more than $60,000, into the McLean Forum account in recent years, including those from labour law firm Maurice Blackburn and others. There were also regular small contributions from TWU officials and staff.
Mr Mookhey said he used personal payments to manage cashflow for the McLean Forum. Documents with the commission show payments to reimburse Mr Mookhey for $101,413. The union disputes this figure, saying it is closer to $60,000.
On Tuesday, the royal commission heard another slush fund linked to the TWU, known as the Team Fund, was used to help support another election fighting fund linked to the Electrical Trades Union.
Evidence was given that Mr Sheldon, who is also vice-president of the ALP, asked for $20,000 to be transferred to support his political allies, including Bernie Riordan, who at the time was NSW secretary of the ETU. The Gillard government later appointed Mr Riordan as a commissioner of Fair Work Australia.
