Former union executive Kathy Jackson believes missing records from the Health Services Union will show she did not steal almost $500,000 of funds by passing off personal transactions as work expenses.
Ms Jackson appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday charged with 70 theft and deception offences, and was supported by her partner, former Fair Work Commission vice-president Michael Lawler.
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Kathy Jackson fights union theft charges
Supported by her partner, former Fair Work Commission vice-president Michael Lawler, Kathy Jackson appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday charged with 70 theft and deception offences.
It's alleged Ms Jackson misrepresented personal expenses as union expenses in a raft of individual transactions spanning from 2003 to 2011.
Her lawyer, Philip Beazley, on Tuesday asked the court for more time to find missing documents, which he says show his client's spending was legitimate.
Mr Beazley says some details linked to the HSU's records have come out in the royal commission into unions.
But it has been difficult tracking down hard copies of minutes from meetings, which he says show Ms Jackson's use of funds had been approved.
"The way the union operated was payments were made on a credit card and later approved by a committee," Mr Beazley said.
"There used to be minute of all these meetings - large boxes (of them).
"We know this from the royal commission, that there are a large number of boxes that no one knows exists."
The Sydney-based lawyer has also requested further details from investigators about all the individual transactions that Jackson is accused of carrying out.
Among the alleged transactions are payments to airlines and hotels in Hong Kong, Las Vegas and New York.
One charge alleges Ms Jackson received a $63,000 cheque in 2010 over an honorarium entitlement she wasn't authorised to receive.
Another charge alleges she was reimbursed $12,500 after claiming she had paid that amount for postage and stationery for the HSU.
Others relate to payments allegedly made to a furniture store and a premium auctioneer house.
Ms Jackson's defence team plans to cross-examine 68 witnesses about the allegations against her at a four-week committal hearing beginning on November 13.
Ms Jackson was charged in August 2016 by Taskforce Heracles, a joint Victoria and Australian Federal Police operation investigating matters arising from the Royal Commission into Trade Union Corruption and Governance.
AAP