Federal Government

BIG PAYOUT: Socialist Left adviser damned in Tribunal judgment on disabilities discrimination

Former Monash Uni student President and now a Rudd Government ministerial staffer in charge of shoe polishing and bin emptying, Socialist Lefty Mat Hilakari has been exposed and severely embarrassed by the publication of a damning judgment against him by the Anti-Discrimination List of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

The VCAT case related to the Socialist Lefty’s misconduct in the Monash student elections last year, where Hilakari and his protégé Julian Campbell were disqualified following their disgraceful attack on a colleague’s disability.

While student politics can often be a hotbed of bitchiness and sleaze, the conduct of Hilakari and Campbell against their colleague Yuliya Mik was universally condemned, and exposed the dodgy student union to massive legal liability.

The judgment, available on the VCAT website, outlines some of Hilakari’s crimes of hate against his younger female rival that have previously been reported in our much-loved predecessor publication.

These include Hilakari’s attempt to cruelly and maliciously pervert affirmative action rules to deny Mik a vote on the student council, his arguably corrupt and venal role in an illicit $26,000 payment to a former employee as “hush money” and Mik’s condemnation of his thuggery in a report to the council. Many of the points raised by Mik in this report have subsequently been detailed in the scathing VCAT judgment. One part of the judgment in particular reveals the extent of Hilakari’s bastardry when it refers to Mik’s testimony:

Mathew Hilakari has been consistently judgmental and unsympathetic to my illness. I tried to resolve the issues he had with me. In April 2008 (21st and 22nd) I had three informal meetings with Matthew Hilakari regarding harassment. At the first of these meetings I explained to him that my illness can cause me to be late or absent unexpectedly and I asked him to be less judgmental as my illness is not something I can control. I also asked that he update me if I was unable to attend or was late. Mr Hilakari responded with “well every time you’re running late to a meeting I’m not going to stop and hold a minute’s silence for you” he also told me that he refused to stop being judgemental and would not be understanding if I was late or absent.

Mr Hilakari also told me that it was my responsibility to update myself on what I miss whilst I am away and that he wouldn’t give me a “word for word re-gurgitation of meetings”. I found Mr Hilakari’s attitude completely inflexible and discriminatory. I was also accused of never doing any work, repeatedly during these three meetings he would say “you never do any work”. When I pointed out to him that he frequently makes negative comments about me and my work but hadn’t made a single positive comment this year about me or my work, he replied that this was because he couldn’t find a single positive thing to say about me, and that he doesn’t understand what I do with my hours because I don’t do any work. I always gave my job everything I had and just needed some support and assistance while I caught up with what I had missed.

I continued to feel discriminated against and victimised by Mathew Hilakari. I was left out of important meetings and would often only find out afterwards that they had been held. He would not respond to my emails, and he told me I wasn’t needed at these meetings.(sic)

Ironically “Heartless” Hilakari is now an adviser to the Federal Minister for Veterans Affairs, Alan Griffin. While having participated in the vilification of a colleague suffering a disability for political gain, he now advises the government on its policies for war veterans.

The case was reportedly settled confidentially in early July, however VEXNEWS understands that Hilakari, Campbell and the Monash Student Association have been required to pay Mik a hefty sum in compensation. This has been rumoured to exceed $40,000.

Typically for the Socialist Left, the matter has been kept quiet around the union, even though an amount believed to be over $20,000 has been spent on legal fees.

One member of the student council who contacted VEXNEWS said they were outraged that the matter had been kept secret. “I think it’s disgraceful, and sadly typical of these young socialists. They whine about how strapped for cash the organisation supposedly is, then spend a fortune on things like this that benefit no one but themselves. It has to stop.”

© 2009 VEXNEWS 2010©.