Suspended Thomson votes with Coalition
Tony Abbott and Christopher Pyne scrambled for the exits in the House of Representatives this morning as suspended Labor MP Craig Thomson lent his "tainted" vote to the Opposition.
Mr Thomson has been sin-binned by the Labor Party over allegations he used union funds to buy prostitutes and fund his election campaign.
However, the Member for Dobell has previously said he would continue to vote with the Government.
That changed this morning when the Coalition wanted to bring on a discussion over the proposed increase to the Government's debt ceiling, and Labor tried to gag debate.
Traditionally, crossbench MPs never back gag motions.
So as Mr Thomson moved to vote for the Coalition, both the Opposition Leader and his manager of business tried to leave the chamber to cancel out his support.
Mr Pyne made it out of the door to negate Mr Thomson's vote but Mr Abbott could not escape in time and his vote was recorded.
Labor then tried to bring its gag motion again, prompting a repeat of the farcical scenes.
This time Mr Pyne found himself trapped in no man's land when he failed to make it out of the door in time.
But, like a batsman trying to make his ground, he gained the sanctuary of the Adviser's Box - neutral ground in the House - so, again, his vote was not counted.
In a statement issued after the events, Mr Pyne said he left the chamber "to negate the tainted vote of the Member for Dobell".
"The coalition has taken the principled stand of refusing to accept his vote under any circumstances," the statement said.
