If we are going to prosecute/persecute a politician for having a possibly criminal past, there will not be many MPs left in the parliament.
Lets face it they are politicians and they only get there by being shonky with the exception of Bob Brown and Christine Milne. I think that Andrew Wilkie could also be considered to have integrity.
Integrity a strange word to apply to a pollie.

With the recent report by the world bank on the rapid advance of AGW and also findings that the melt rate in the Arctic and Antarctic has tripled in speed, this nonsense being played out in the Parliament is a storm in a tea cup and should be treated as such.
If this is all that our leaders can do at a time of crisis, then it is time that we replaced them with proper leaders.
Grow up. Abbott, I know that you crave to be PM and will do anything towards that end but you are not fit to lead a country,
Gillard, ignore the pathetic attacks on you and get on with running the country.

What a terrible situation Australia is in!

We have a P.M. and a would-be P.M. that are both dodgy and unloved but for different reasons. The people prefer Rudd and Turnbull as their leaders but the politicians have decided that we, the voters, are going to have Gillard and Abbot and who are we to question this?

Well, we are the voters and, in a democracy, we are supposed to have a government 'by the people, for the people' or some such nonsense!

Why don't the two parties call a leadership ballot this week and get rid of Gillard and Abbott, give us a great Xmas present, show that they respect us, that they care about what we think...!

Sorry, I let my imagination get the better of me. Back to the drawing board.

I think you failed to finish your last sentence Mr LePage. I believe it should have read -

"Gillard, ignore the pathetic attacks on you and get on with running the country" into the ground.

Yes, now that's more like it.

However, a very good case you've established here Mr Cox. I will be interested to see what the defense puts up. So far it's just been waffle. Probably more of the same, apart from the usual vitriol, trolling, and incoherent heckle and jeckle.

What strange comments by Robert; if politicians have questions to answer about their integrity generally how can you expect them to deal with specific issues in an ethical manner.

3 questions for Robert:

1 Address the specific points in the article about the PM; handwaving about "pathetic attacks" doesn't cut the mustard.

2 Who are the other politicians with "possible criminal pasts"; apart from Thomson and Slipper who are currently being investigated?

3 The World Bank report on alleged progress of AGW is OT but since you raised it the report is a fiasco and is revealed to be such by this analysis:

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/11/28/the-atlantic-magazines-5-charts-about-climate-change-that-should-have-you-very-very-worried-worried-about-scientific-illiteracy/#more-74972

Like every bit of 'evidence' about AGW the WB report is nothing more than exaggerations and lies.

For some reason, commentators on the AWU Workplace Reform Association never seem to mention "passing off". Google gave me:

"Q: What is passing off? The tort of passing off applies where there is a representation that a person’s goods or services are those of someone else. To establish passing off, the plaintiff must prove a misrepresentation made by a trader in the course of trade to prospective customers or consumers that is intended to injure the plaintiff's business or goodwill and that caused actual damage to the plaintiff. The misrepresentation can be about the name of the product or the image that is presented by the product. The tort of passing off is not confined to the traditional concepts of trade names and trademarks. It includes such things as slogans and visual images where they have become part of the goodwill or reputation of the product.

The Trade Practices Act creates a statutory tort that can be used in addition to, or in substitution for, the common law tort of passing off. The Act prohibits deceptive or misleading conduct by a corporation. It is only necessary to prove that the conduct occurred in the course of trade and commerce, and that it is misleading or deceptive, or likely to mislead or deceive."

http://www.findlaw.com.au/faqs/1126/what-is-passing-off.aspx