PM won't shift Thomson as committee chair

Prime Minister Julia Gillard is resisting opposition calls for embattled Labor MP Craig Thomson to be stripped of the chairmanship of a parliamentary committee.
Ahead of a four-day sitting of parliament, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott on Sunday stepped up his attack on Mr Thomson calling for him to be stood aside from the lower house economics committee.
Mr Thomson, the Labor MP for the NSW seat of Dobell, is being investigated by Fair Work Australia over irregularities in union funds when he was national secretary of the Health Services Union.
The MP has publicly admitted to authorising the credit card payment of $2475 in union funds being spent on a Sydney escort agency in 2005.
But he denies he used the agency services or any wrongdoing with union funds.
Last week he belatedly updated the MP interests register to add a loan from the NSW Labor party to meet legal bills stemming from a defamation action he dropped against Fairfax newspapers.
Coalition MPs used parliament last week to raise questions about why Mr Thomson never queried the union's credit card accounts, how his mobile phone number was used to contact the agency and how his drivers licence came to be used to verify the payment.
Mr Abbott said the prime minister should stand Mr Thomson aside from the parliamentary committee.
"I think it's very hard for someone who can't answer questions about his own credit card to credibly ask questions of the governor of the Reserve Bank about the nation's credit cards," Mr Abbott told the Ten Network.
"So I think this is a big issue and I think the short answer is no, he can't really remain chairman of that committee."
Mr Abbott said it was up to the prime minister to act when parliament resumes.
"You can't have a prime minister who refused to answer reasonable questions about what she knew and what she did," Mr Abbott said.
The call came a day after NSW Liberal Premier Barry O'Farrell said Mr Thomson should stand down from federal parliament.
Asked whether Mr Thomson would be stood aside from the committee, a spokesman for Ms Gillard told AAP on Sunday the Fair Work Australia investigation should be allowed to run its course.
Treasurer Wayne Swan told reporters he had "full confidence" in Mr Thomson.
"I don't think you can reach any conclusion until those processes (by Fair Work Australia) have seen their way through," he said.
Trade Minister Craig Emerson accused the Liberal Party of double standards.
"There has been no allegation of criminality of any sort against Craig Thomson," Dr Emerson told Sky News.
South Australian Liberal Senator Mary Jo Fisher is facing allegations she stole groceries from an Adelaide supermarket and assaulted a female security guard in a car park last December.
"We have never called for the resignation of this particular MP. Why? Because out of respect for her and the presumption of innocence," Dr Emerson said.
Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said Mr Thomson needed to provide a "full account" to the parliament.