"And I suppose her "leave" starting directly after her inquiry is a pure coincidence?"

It's as coincidental as alleging a faulty "Time-Stamp" on a Press Release and having the claim shot down by another Shadow Minister the very next day or any of the other series of well-documented Abbott lies.

It's way past the put-up or shut-up period. I think I know who will have the upper hand when Parliament resumes in the new year.

cohenite,

It doesn't explain why Ashby would even accept (and in fact request) a job with Slipper when he already knew what Slipper was like.

From the content of the text messages he was no better and encouraged a lot of what was being said.

It will be more interesting to see who picks up the tab for the costs, now that his LNP sponsors have no further use of his "services".

If character is anything to go by, Ashby is just as likely to make some comfortable admissions of his own before this is all done.

Then we can move onto who funded Kathy Jackson's costs in her accusations against Craig Thomson.

What? The same lawyers? Acting pro-bono as well? Well goodness me!

And the Shadow Ministers sniffing around that case? Pyne? Brandis?
Gosh again!

And who had "no specific knowledge?"
Abbott?

Who would have guessed.

Geez rache, now you're defending Thomson; is there any one you won't defend?

Your little 6 degrees of seperation was amusing but I see you haven't taken up my challenge; here's something to kick you off:

When Julia Gillard, Slater and Gordon and the AWU each went their separate ways who took over the AWU’s legal interests for its new law firm, Maurice Blackburn:

Nicola Roxon.

Who is a former National Secretary of the AWU?

Bill Shorten.

Who had an extra marital affair with Nicola Roxon?

Bill Shorten.

Who backed Gillard’s assassination of Rudd?

Bill Shorten.

Who said she would refuse to serve in a Rudd cabinet?

Nicola Roxon.

Who was deposed as Attorney General after trying to investigate the AWU scandal.

Robert McClelland.

Who replaced him?

Nicola Roxon.

Who has stated she is satisfied Gillard has done no wrong?

Nicola Roxon.

What do Gillard and Roxon have in common?

Both are former solicitors. Both worked on the AWU slush fund debacle. Both had affairs with married officials of the AWU. Both are senior members of this Goverment. Both have had affairs with married Ministers of this government. Both belong to Emily’s list. Both entered Parliament in 1998.

Besides the Labor affairs listed by Cohenite, others included Julia Gillard and Craig Emerson, and Penny Wong and Jay Weatherill .

The current federal government is entitled to be called the most decadent since Federation.

More grist for the mill!

According to The Australian of 19 December, Terry O'Connor QC, "the former head of Western Australia's anti-corruption watchdog believes Julia Gillard may have breached two sections of the state's law through her role in providing legal advice for the incorporation of an association her then boyfriend later used as cover for a fraud."

"He notes a section of the act that says associations applying for incorporation needed to have more than five members when, in fact, the AWU Workplace Reform Association had two."

O'Connor said there had been no explanation from Blewitt, Wilson or Gillard about why its real purpose was not set out in the documents.

"He said Blewitt as the applicant could have been charged with knowingly giving false information to the Corporate Affairs Commissioner "as he was aware that the objects set out in the rules were not the true object of the association and that the certification in the formal application was false". "Without some explanation from (Ms Gillard) as to what occurred, there is in my opinion a prima facie case that she could have been charged along with Mr Blewitt as she drafted the rules of the association for Mr Blewitt knowing that the rules did not disclose the purpose for which the association was being incorporated", Mr O'Connor writes."

Wow! Roxon and Shorten had an extramarital affair?

Got any links or other sources to prove that? I'm sure his mother-in-law (the Governer General) wouldn't have been too keen on swearing him in as a Minister.

(Psst. I've heard that Gillard went to the same Kenyan school as Obama when they were kids).