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Craig Thomson facing claims he misled parliament over card misuse Craig Thomson to be investigated over claims he misled parliament
(about 1 hour later)
The speaker, Bronwyn Bishop, is considering claims the former Labor MP Craig Thomson misled the lower house when he protested his innocence during the last term of parliament. Both sides of parliament have agreed to refer the former Labor MP Craig Thomson to the privileges committee to investigate whether he misled the lower house when he protested his innocence over misuse of union funds.
The opposition has signalled it is prepared to support a motion referring Thomson to the privileges committee over the claims, in a bid to head off any Abbott government suggestion that Labor continues to try to protect the former union leader. Last week, Thomson was found guilty of dishonesty offences over the misuse of his Health Services Union (HSU) credit cards to pay for escorts.
Last week, Thomson was found guilty of dishonesty offences over the misuse of his Health Services Union credit cards to pay for escorts. The manager of government business, Christopher Pyne, moved a motion on Monday asking the privileges committee to consider the findings of the Melbourne magistrates court.
On Monday the government began the process of pursuing allegations Thomson misled parliament in denying the claims levelled against him over the misuse of Health Services Union funds. The panel would examine whether Thomson “deliberately misled the house” in a tearful speech to the chamber on 21 May, 2012.
Karen McNamara, the Liberal MP who defeated Thomson in the New South Wales seat of Dobell in September, raised “as a matter of privilege” the question of whether the former member misled the house. Pyne said many members of parliament would now regard Thomson’s speech as “fantastic”. He said Thomson had named several members of the public during the address.
Bishop said she would consider the matter and report to the house later. Pyne said MPs were able to make comments under parliamentary privilege and avoid defamation proceedings, but this came with an important responsibility to tell the truth.
The government’s chief parliamentary tactician, Christopher Pyne, last week responded to Thomson’s conviction by flagging a motion to refer the matter to the privileges committee. “For parliamentary privilege to mean anything it needs to be protected and enhanced,” he said, calling on all sides of parliament to back the referral.
Pyne accused the Labor party of running a “protection racket” around Thomson for years and called on the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, to pledge bipartisan support for a privileges committee investigation. Labor voiced its support. The leader of opposition business, Tony Burke, said the matter was referred unanimously to the privileges committee during the previous parliament.
Guardian Australia understands Labor is likely to support such a motion. A source said the party had supported a previous referral of Thompson to the privileges committee and would do so again. “As we supported it in the last parliament, we support the reference in this parliament,” he said.
The government has been running hard on allegations of union corruption, launching a royal commission into misconduct claims and seeking to pressure Labor to support the reintroduction of the Australian Building and Construction Commission. Labor has argued the government is motivated by politics and that the police are best placed to investigation alleged crimes. The speaker, Bronwyn Bishop, made the issue a priority shortly after question time on Monday. Karen McNamara, the Liberal MP who defeated Thomson in the New South Wales seat of Dobell in September, had raised “as a matter of privilege” the question of whether the former member misled the house.
Bishop said the matter was referred to the privileges committee during the last parliament but was suspended pending the resolution of the criminal charges. That inquiry lapsed on the dissolution of the house before the last election, she said.
During question time, Pyne sought to intensify pressure on Labor over its handling of the Thomson allegations, saying the HSU had given $1.2m to the Labor party between 2007 and last year.
He said the Fair Work Commission had found that $267,721 of HSU members’ money was used in the Dobell campaign to elect Thomson. Pyne said the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, would order his party to repay the $267,721 if genuine about standing up for workers.
Pyne said: “Is he on the side of the worker or is he on the side of dodgy union officials? Can he rise above his background?”
The government has been running hard on allegations of union corruption, launching a royal commission into misconduct claims and seeking to put pressure on Labor to support the reintroduction of the Australian Building and Construction Commission. Labor has argued the government is motivated by politics and that the police are best placed to investigate alleged crimes.
The Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells is understood to be pushing for the release of Fair Work Commission source documents relating to Thomson which were considered by a Senate committee during the last parliament.The Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells is understood to be pushing for the release of Fair Work Commission source documents relating to Thomson which were considered by a Senate committee during the last parliament.
A spokeswoman said Fierravanti-Wells “would look to pursue this matter through the appropriate channels”.A spokeswoman said Fierravanti-Wells “would look to pursue this matter through the appropriate channels”.