A committee of federal Labor MPs likely to include former union leader Doug Cameron will scrutinise applications from resource companies for foreign workers, but the government has stopped short of giving it a veto. The whole point of the exercise by caucus is they are afraid unions will lose power if foreign workers are employed in the mining industry.

The 12-point resolution creating the committee, which was moved by Left faction figure Doug Cameron and seconded by Victorian Right faction MP Kelvin Thomson, gives the committee the power to monitor and improve EMAs.

That’s it then. It’s now official. We have the unions running our nation with Shop Steward Cameron in the chair. Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie said Labor wanted to replace Australian labour with cheap Asian workers.

“I am worried that this is a move by stealth, ultimately by the mining industry, to reduce the cost of production by bringing in foreign workers, paying them half what they pay Australian workers while we have people sitting there looking for work,” Mr Wilkie said.

Except they get paid standard Aussie award rates, you idiot. This man has a vote in the House and he can’t even get his facts right.

A snippet from the local Bayside and Norther Suburbs Star Australia’s largest employers; Woolworths first with 94, 408 employees, Coles Myer second with 94,00 and third is the Queensland Health Department with 47,520 The Queensland Department of Health has more employees than Telstra, the Australian Department of Defence, all the mining companies and all of the other state Health Departments and two of those states have a much larger population. Good one, Anna Bligh. No wonder your ALP had to borrow money to pay the wages and even then they couldn’t manage it properly. The figures gives us an idea of the magnitude of the ALP’s incompetence and CanDo’s herculean task of bringing Queensland public service back into manageable proportions. Keep at it, CanDo.

CRAIG Thomson has pleaded to be left alone while a raft of inquiries into his conduct proceed, declaring “enough is enough”. No it isn’t. You are still in the House, you lying, thieving, whoring grub. Everybody who has an interest in the truth will pursue it until it is resolved. Get used to it.

I note some comments relate to how well Thomson spoke and in doing so fail to note that he didn’t answer the questions raised in the FWA findings. Good oratory abilities aren’t restricted to the honest folk alone – obviously! He went on the attack but did so sans ammo. No time and date of supposed conspiracies, no collaborating witnesses, no detail. No believable answer for the mobile phone calls to Escort agencies and no explanation of huge sums of HSU money sidelined to the Dobel campaign. And he has the temerity to say Abbott has damaged democracy….FFS! Windsor, fighting for his pension, said the parliament should not act as judge and jury against Mr Thomson. Yes it should. I can’t see how he isn’t in contempt of the House.

“I think due process should take place,” he said.

It has. The body set up by the ALP to vet this type of behaviour has investigated the matter and have found against him. Mr Wilkie said while the Thomson saga “stinks”, he should be considered innocent until proven guilty.

“So unless the findings against him have been tested in a properly constituted court, where he has the opportunity to defend himself, we must accord him the presumption of innocence no matter how much that grates,” he said.

He hasn’t been charged with breaking any laws yet so the properly constituted court and the presumption of innocence aren’t relevant. He had the opportunity to defend himself during the FWA investigation and his defence was found to be unbelievable. He had the chance to explain his case to the House and he didn’t The Coalition have no choice but to pursue the matter to the point of satisfactory resolution as while it festers, the country isn’t being governed. Albanese seeks moral equivalence between Thomson’s seemingly never ending litany of rorting union members funds and sordid dalliances with escorts and MP Craig Kelly’s accountant being tardy in notifying ASIC of Company changes. Kelly says the Accountant was sick and in hospital and I’m sure if the matter was pursued evidence would be forthcoming that that was the case. No evidence yet on any of Thomson’s claims and I doubt if there will be. Thomson tried the “It’s not just me” defence with claims Jackson drives a volvo and has been on trips overseas that didn’t tie in with Union business. And…? Senator Brandis said Mr Thomson could not be believed, and should be made accountable for misleading the House.

“If Mr Thomson misled the parliament, and it seems an almost irresistible conclusion that he does given the profound implausibility of his claims and the lack of evidence for them, then he committed the breach of privilege yesterday,” he told ABC radio. “Not by conduct which pre-dated his time as a member of parliament but yesterday, when he lied to the House of Representatives.”

But Mr Fitzgibbon said Mr Thomson’s statement had injected enough doubt into the allegations facing him that he should be allowed to await his day in court.

“I thought Craig Thomson gave a very persuasive case,” Mr Fitzgibbon told ABC Radio. “I thought he spoke with conviction. He gave plausible explanations as to the allegations and I think he proved these issues are complex.

I guess Joel has to say that but I ask you, how does he say it with a straight face? Meanwhile Gillard, who has already found him guilty by kicking him out of the Labor Party says she had been presented with a “summary” of Mr Thomson’s hour-long speech to parliament yesterday but declined to comment on the address.

“Mr Thomson put his statement to the parliament and that was a decision for him,” she said. “It’s not for the parliament to set itself up as a court or jury.”

I simply don’t believe Gillard when she says she was presented with a summary of his speech. Whatever Thomson was about to say in the House was of extreme importance to the ALP and I would say that his words were tested and pulled apart by lawyers and politicians for days to ensure it didn’t say anything that could be proven wrong which is why he failed to give any specific facts that could be checked. There is no way the government would just let Thomson write his own speech and deliver it without a tick from the ALP heavies. And the whole sorry saga just goes on and on. .

Every voter in Australia needs to listen to this 2GB broadcast. Former Fairfax radio host Michael Smith joins Ben Fordhamto talk about the ongoing HSU saga. Gillard’s protestations of presumption of innocence are just delaying tactics. Thomson is not facing a court of law, he has been found to have misused members monies by the ALP established FWA inquiry. He has abused his privileges as a Union leader and he has stolen the members money for nefarious and illegal uses, thus I am of the opinion that he lacks the moral tone and ethics to sit in parliament and represent his electorate. The interview with Laurie Oakes was painful to watch as it leaves more questions than answers. If he believes he has been set up how is that he has only mentioned this years after allegations surfaced. If I believe I had been set up then I would be bashing down police doors to get them to pursue the matter. If he has a name of whoever set him up, why is it that we haven’t heard it yet and will he drop the name in Parliament next week? If it was a set up then one would expect the villain to also approve the expenditure when the credit card bills come in. Not so, according to the above linked 2GB broadcast. Thomson admits signing off on the expenditure. And through all of this he refuses to cooperate with the police. I would say he is about to lose the right to refuse and the police will be reading him his rights in an interview room. Can’t come quick enough Windsor’s delaying tactics include calling for a possible referendum on rule changes that would allow MPs to be banned from parliament for civil offences while Gillard’s welcomes any debate on a clearer code of conduct for MPs. Codes of conduct are very clear to the electorate and they are saying ‘get rid of him’ The stench is damaging the ALP. Reading comments at other sites I note turkeys never, ever, ever, ever, ever vote for Christmas to arrive, never. And that simple fact belongs to both Windsor and Oakeshott, who are making noises about parliament expulsion on civil cases that are found condemning, are just that, noise. When will we be done with this man….when will the government acknowledge the damage he is doing to the ALP and the country and take remedial steps? How long can Gillard ignore the issue?