Q: Dennis Hickman you did not take legal action against the scandalous lies and allegations that were aimed at you, why? Many people said that by not taking legal action you were obviously guilty?

A: For the record Dennis Hickman did initiate legal action against the lies and slander that was published, Dennis Hickman quickly found out as anyone who has come up against this type of thing will tell you it’s all about money.

Dennis contacted two firms of lawyers, both gave a clear legal opinion that Dennis Hickman had a substantial case for damages against a number of people and organisations, however their best estimate given was that Dennis Hickman needed to pay his legal team at least $250,000 Australian Dollars to see it through to the end.

As Dennis had invested $400,000 Australian Dollars to purchase Dartbridge Welding and had invested further money in setting up the state of the art welding training and testing facilities, Dennis simply didn’t have any money left to fight the claims, which were later proved to be totally false and untrue, if Dennis had funds available and had taken legal action and won the damages awarded against individuals and organisations would have been substantial, Dennis did not have the money to fight it.

Q: It was said many times that Dennis Hickman profited from charging over inflated amounts for rent, it was said that Dennis Hickman and Dartbridge Welding were charging $175 per week just for rent and that Dartbridge Welding owned the houses so the company and Dennis made a massive profit on the rent from these workers, is that true?

A: No absolutely not, the weekly amount covered a lot of different things, the workers were collected at their house and driven in air conditioned mini busses to their place of work and they were driven home when they finished, they were driven to shopping centers, church and medical facilities whenever they wanted to go, 7 days and nights a week if required, the public transport system in Brisbane doesn’t cover the whole of the city very well and it can be very difficult to manage the travel time using public transport, Dartbridge Welding offered this transport service to them at a weekly cost of $60 per week – compare the cost of that to public transport, taxis or owning and running a car.

The accommodation Dartbridge Welding offered to workers was in brand new houses in one area of Brisbane so that all the workers could be together in one place, these houses were not owned by Dartbridge Welding, Dennis Hickman, Wayne Harrison or any related person or entity, they were rented from a company in Springwood, South Brisbane and were owned by persons unknown to and not in any way connected with Dennis Hickman, Dartbridge Welding or Wayne Harrison.

The weekly rent charge included the rent of house, furniture, sheets etc, all plates and eating / cooking utensils, microwave, DVD, hi fi, TV, Gym equipment, table tennis, pool table etc, all electricity, gas and water bills were included in the rental charge, gardening and house maintained for $67 a week per worker, no reasonable person would suggest that paying $67 a week in return for the above is being overcharged and it certainly was not a profit making venture for the Dartbridge Welding, it was not profit making for Dennis Hickman nor Wayne Harrison, the accommodation and everything else was provided as a service to assist the workers.

The workers also took out private health insurance with MBF and the weekly cost of that was $48, so the weekly charge of $175 actually consisted of $67 accommodation, $60 for transport and $48 for private health insurance.

But that never made the newspapers, TV or Radio did it, I ask you the reader do you consider these amounts to now be too high?

Q: It was said that Dennis Hickman is against the union movement and that Dennis Hickman acted in a poor manner towards the community and against Filipinos specifically, what would you say to that?

A: It proved impossible to get the truth out there, but for the record, Dennis Hickman is not against the union movement at all.

Dennis has been a union member his whole working life and has been a site delegate for the AMWU at Phosphate Hill in Queensland, Australia. Dennis was the union delegate for the Queensland Plumbers Union during the construction of Harbour Town Shopping Centre on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

Dennis Hickman was a member of the committee of management of the Queensland Plumbers Union for three years (this is an unpaid position and union members volunteer and donate their time to assist the Union to form policy and manage the Union) Dennis also designed, constructed and updated the original the Plumbers Union website as a voluntary service and also produced the Plumbers Union Magazine.

Actions speak louder than words and the commitment Dennis Hickman has shown to the Union Movement has been well demonstrated over the last 15 years in Australia.

In regards to giving back to the community or Dennis’s own sense of community spirit, Dennis always been involved in community projects, since he was a school, be it the local football club or helping senior citizens, Dennis has been active in helping members of the community both in Australia and in the Philippines.

Some of the projects Dennis has been involved with and funded include:

• The Board of Benevolence and of Aged Masons, Widows and Orphans Fund Dennis Hickman donated a mini bus to The Board of Benevolence and of Aged Masons, Widows and Orphans Fund and that mini bus is still in service at Cooloola
  
• Dennis Hickman is the International Director of The Australian Filipino Chamber of Commerce which is the first local Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Australia whose charter is focused on bilateral trade relationship between Australia and the Philippines. Dennis Hickman through his IT Company www.brisbanetechnologies.com donates IT services and funds the website and online hosting for this organisation at www.afccq.org.au
  
• The International Social Service Philippines Inc. (ISS) works to protect, defend and support children, families and individuals in disadvantaged situations as a consequence of global movement (including OFWs), whose circumstances have lead to the separation of families and children. Dennis Hickman worked with Philippines Senators and Retired Justices to assist with promoting ISS and Dennis Hickman through his IT Company www.brisbanetechnologies.com donated IT services and funds the website and online hosting for this organisation at www.issphilippines.org
  
• Ugat Foundation They are an organization for counseling for families including Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the disadvantaged sector, Dennis Hickman through his IT Company www.brisbanetechnologies.com donated IT services and funds the website and online hosting for this organisation at www.ugat-foundation.org
  
• The Women’s Crisis Centre in Manila this organisation deals with survivors of rape and domestic violence, since Dennis Hickman started to donate IT services at www.wccmanila.com and set up an online promotion of the excellent yet extremely difficult work the Women’s Crisis Centre does, more than 20 survivors of rape and abuse have found help directly through the services donated by Dennis Hickman, on the last visit Dennis made to the Women’s Crisis Centre in November 2008 the centre staff were amazed that a foreigner like Dennis would be supporting a charity like that in Manila, Dennis has been involved with providing donations to the WCC for a number of years and if fact has signed up to continue funding for the next five years.
  

All of these organisations can be contacted to attest to the help and donations provided by Dennis Hickman, however as a sign of your own charitable and community spirit if you do contact any of these organisations or you do visit their websites, why don’t YOU make a donation or offer of help to them, God knows they could all do with all the help they can get.