Craig Thomson has been warned by a judge she has the power to increase the sentence imposed on the former federal MP if she rules against him in his appeal against a jail term.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Thomson sat in the dock of the County Court on Monday as his appeal began against a conviction for using Health Services Union funds for his own benefit.
The former Labor member for the NSW seat of Dobell was in March jailed for three months, with nine months suspended for two years, for using more than $24,500 of HSU funds for personal benefit, including paying for sex.
Thomson, 50, has not served any of that jail term as his legal team launched an immediate appeal against the conviction magistrate Charlie Rozencwajg imposed.
On Monday, judge Carolyn Douglas said the appeal was in effect a new hearing. Judge Douglas said she was also not bound by the sentence Mr Rozencwajg imposed and that she had the right to increase the penalty if she ruled against Thomson.
Thomson was convicted in March for using HSU-issued credit cards and a Flight Centre account to pay for sexual services and withdraw cash from ATMs, and to buy cigarettes, firewood and travel expenses for his then wife, Christa, while he was the union's national secretary between 2002 and 2007.
He was also found to have used HSU accounts after he left the union and became a federal MP.
Thomson maintained his innocence soon after Mr Rozencwajg made his ruling.
Greg James, QC, representing Thomson, told the court on Monday his client pleaded not guilty to all the charges he was convicted of.
In an opening submission to the court, Lesley Taylor, SC, representing the Office of Public Prosecutions, said Thomson had never been authorised to use HSU funds for himself.
Ms Taylor said HSU rules made it explicitly clear no members of the union's national executive could use funds for anything other than furthering the union or its members, or for work-related travel expenses.
She said Thomson would have known the rules as the union's national secretary, a long-standing union official and a lawyer, and that at one point he had formalised a code of conduct in relation to the use of union-issued credit cards.
"It is utterly inconceivable that as a member of the national executive ... that he would have been ignorant of the rules, guidelines, policies and practices of the union," she said.
It was "absolutely beyond doubt", Ms Taylor said, that Thomson was not authorised to use the funds on himself. The funds he used were exclusively the contributions of union members, the court heard.
Mr James is yet to begin his submissions.
Thomson lost the seat of Dobell in last year's federal election when he stood as an independent.
His hearing continues.