A political scandal involving a government MP over payments to prostitutes, which threatens Australia's minority government, deepened Wednesday when police were asked to investigate the lawmaker's union credit card bills.
The move by the Health Services Union (HSU) increases the likelihood that police will launch a criminal investigation into the credit card bills of the union's former boss Craig Thomson, now a government MP, including payments to a Sydney brothel.
Thomson has denied any wrongdoing. But if police decide he can be charged with a criminal offense and is then found guilty, he would be forced to leave parliament, sparking a by-election that could bring down Prime Minister Julia Gillard's government, which has a one-seat majority.
The union had previously not complained about Thomson's credit card bills, which meant police had limited scope to investigate the payments.
But an opposition senator, George Brandis, wrote to Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione on Monday with new evidence he alleged showed Thomson had committed a range of crimes, including fraud, which is punishable by 10 years in prison.
Handwriting expert It included a statement from a forensic handwriting expert who said Thomson had probably signed one of the brothel credit card dockets in question.
It also included a bundle of recently released court documents that Fairfax Media Publications, owner of a Sydney newspaper that first raised the allegations against Thomson, would have used in the defamation trial as proof of many more instances in which Thomson allegedly paid prostitutes with the same credit card.
Gillard told Parliament on Tuesday "it would be inappropriate for me to comment further" on the scandal because of the police investigation.
She denied any involvement in a decision by a Labor state branch to pay more than 90,000 Australian dollars ($94,000) toward Thomson's legal bills for settling his defamation case.
The party won't explain the generous gift, but the opposition is convinced it was to prevent Thomson being bankrupted by his legal bills.
Under Australia's Constitution, a lawmaker must quit Parliament if he or she is bankrupt or convicted of a crime that carries a potential prison sentence of at least 12 months.
The scandal has dominated political debate and added to Gillard's woes as she struggles to overturn record low poll ratings, and to find parliamentary support for key reforms such as a carbon tax and a new mining tax over the coming months.
Gillard won national elections a year ago this week with a one-seat majority, thanks to the support of one Green and three independent lawmakers. Polls suggest she would be convincingly thrown from office if an election were held today.
The independents have maintained their support for Gillard's government despite the heated attacks on her and on Thomson, led by opposition leader Tony Abbott who has been demanding the government call an early election.
The next election is not due until the second half of 2013, but if Thomson were to be convicted of a crime before then, Labor would likely lose his seat in a by-election, which could force an early election.
'Defending the indefensible'
Were the opposition to win a by-election in Thomson's seat, the government and opposition would control 75 seats each in the 150 seat parliament. But the government must provide parliament's speaker, who does not normally vote on bills.
That would in all probability leave neither side of the house able to control a majority, which could force an early election.
The allegations against Thomson stem from 2005, when he was national secretary of the Health Services Union, and revolve around a payment of A$2,475 ($2,595) to a Sydney brothel on his union credit card.
Abbott condemned the government's ongoing support for Thomson on Wednesday, saying the issue had distracted the government from working to protect jobs and manage the economy.
"As long as they are defending the indefensible and justifying the unjustifiable to protect their own position in government, they won't be protecting the interests of the Australian people," Abbott said.