Four Corners: Oct 19

Tonight’s Four Corners story “Jackson & Lawler – Inside the Eye of the Storm,” reported by Caro Meldrum-Hanna, speaks to controversial couple Kathy Jackson and Michael Lawler.

She’s the former union boss once lauded as a “lion of the union movement” for blowing the whistle on corruption. He’s a senior judicial officer ruling on major industrial disputes with the power to rule on workers’ wages and conditions.

Together, Kathy Jackson and Michael Lawler appeared a formidable power couple.

But in a stunning reversal of fortune, four years after first hitting the headlines, Jackson has been branded a liar, found to have illegally spent more than a million dollars in union funds to fuel a lavish lifestyle and the subject of a major police investigation.

Lawler too is facing a barrage of criticism and calls for his removal as Vice President of the Fair Work Commission over allegations he’s benefitted from her illegal spending and conducted complex legal work for Jackson while claiming sick leave.

With extensive and exclusive access, reporter Caro Meldrum-Hanna takes you into their highly controversial world.

Until now, Michael Lawler has never spoken publicly. In candid and at times startling scenes he talks in detail about the controversy engulfing them both. And Jackson, in her first interview since the finding of theft, reflects on her actions.

Caro Meldrum-Hanna: “Perhaps you’ve lost sight, you’ve been caught up in a conspiracy theory or created one in an attempt to cover up your own wrong doing?”

Michael Lawler: “That’s bullshit.”

Four Corners takes you into the eye of the storm.

Monday 19 October at 8.30pm on ABC.