"Thompson must resign immediately.
2. Abbott must call for a double dissolution of parliament, if Thompson refuses the call, (against the odds of success)"

Mr. Thompson does not have to resign, unless he is sentence to more that a year's jail. That has not occurred at this time.

There are no grounds for a double dissolution.

Contrary to the belief of many, Mr. Abbott has to observe the Constitution, along with every other person in this great land of ours.

He is not what he believes himself to be, a law unto himself.

Don't talk silly Flo. Abbot knows he cannot call for double disolution
as it stands now. Also it is obvious that Thompson will not resign as
that would mean grid lock in the house.

Until gridlock occurs nothing can be done unless one of the
independants gets a rush of blood to the head or someone falls under a bus.
I think the PM is thinking how lucky she is that there is no way she
can intervene, although I suspect that something could be done by
removing FWA's funding if they really wanted to get it settled.
Which of course they don't.

That is the crux of the matter;
The government does not want to find a mechanism and anyone who
suggested a way would get smacked down very smartly.

We all know what is going on so it is silly for anyone to pretend
that you don't.

...I weep for Labor supporters FLO. But I have collected a few synonyms of the adjective “Inordinate”. I wish you to be honest with your contemplations on the issue of Labor credibility, when assessing the appropriateness and applicability of Gillards Labor, to this wonderfully descriptive word “inordinate”.

…disproportionate, dizzying, exorbitant, extortionate, extreme, gratuitous, immoderate, intemperate, irrational, outrageous, overindulgent, overmuch, preposterous, supererogatory, superfluous, surplus, too much, towering, uncalled-for, unconscionable, uncurbed, undue, unmeasurable, unreasonable, unrestrained, untempered, unwarranted, wanton, wasteful…

Sorry Flo…I imply no fault or blame that should rest at your own feet for the Labor mess of lies and deception.

Dear Flo,

Thank You for your usual well-reasoned posts.
It's always good to receive some balance on
this forum. I've come across an interesting
link that may be of some interest to you.
Of course I shall be accused of using a "biased"
link because it won't suit the political inclinations
of some people who prefer the sensational tabloids.
However, I think it presents the pros and cons of
the issue extremely well - and does try to maintain
a balanced view point.

http://newmatilda.com/2012/04/05/scandal-just-wont-die

Dearest Lexi,

Let's turn this around. Imagine:

* a NSW National Party senator is accused of being involved in the sexual abuse of under-age Aboriginal girls by a group of truckies in his home area. Evidence: his parliamentary credit card was used to pay for sex and for the hire of motel rooms in the area where the abuse is occurring. He was absent from his home and electoral office on the days and nights when the motel rooms were booked.

He strenuously denies any wrong-doing: someone impersonated him, he says. Sounds fair enough, it could happen. The O'Farrell government orders an investigation by a special police unit, which takes, say, three years to complete its investigation. The report is referred to the relevant authorities but is sent back because it did not have the proper paper clips.

I'm sure that you would agree, Lexi, that even in this hypothetical case, this NP senator should have his day in court, to clear his name from these vile crimes. He should he considered innocent until the unlikely event that he is found guilty of a string of offenses arising from these acts, which could total more than a year's jail. There are complications in this case, which necessitate the three years' investigation. Justice has to be thorough so its wheels may grind slowly.

To get back to reality: my vote has always - eventually - gone to Labor. But until this affair is settled, I am voting 'Informal' - I still can't bring myself to vote AGAINST Labor, but I'm not a complete mug either :)

Love,

Joe

Lexi,

Many of the points in the article you linked, I brought up previously, "the tortuous investigations have had the effect of a slow drip of bad news. Given how unpopular this government is, that’s no help to Labor’s rapidly diminishing re-election prospects." however, as I don't publish in the NM, my views don't count. The bias here though is still palpable, considering that Ben understates the facts that "a union credit card was misused" and that there is no smoking gun.

Ben is also a little optimistic: "The Thomson affair will therefore rumble on. While it does so, it will continue to inflict low-level damage to Labor’s brand, without bringing down the government". As the information coming out of the scandal, including the Tempe report soon to be released gets worse, and the ACTU and everyone else backs away from Thomson, Juliar will be his sole supporter, and will be fully bathed in his stench.

If there is any hope that Labor has that this will go away, Brandis will ensure that it is front and foremost at every important point, and at the next election.