Victorian balance-of-power maverick Frankston MP Geoff Shaw has been suspended from Parliament for 11 sitting days for misusing his parliamentary car and fuel card.
The State Government’s motion received the support of former speaker Ken Smith, who had threatened to vote with Labor to have Mr Shaw expelled.
The 11-parliamentary day suspension means the government will have to negotiate Labor’s support for legislation or rely on the Speaker’s casting vote.
Speaking after the suspension of Mr Shaw, Deputy Premier of Victoria Peter Ryan stated: “We intend to run a full program of legislation through the Parliament, but to do that it would assist if we did have the cooperation of Mr Andrews and the Labor Party.”
Mr Shaw’s suspension will last until September 2. The Member for Frankston is also required to apologise and repay about $7,000. If he does not comply with the motion passed, he will be expelled from Parliament.
The independent MP will still receive his parliamentary salary.
The Napthine government has been in turmoil after Mr Shaw withdrew his support from the government.
Labor put forward a motion to find Mr Shaw in contempt of Parliament after a privileges committee report that he misused his taxpayer-funded car, but its move on Wednesday to have the maverick MP expelled was voted down.
The Privileges Committee of the Victorian Legislative Assembly found that Geoff Shaw contravened the Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament, however, the majority report did not find that this contravention was wilful in order to constitute contempt of Parliament.
John Pandazopoulos, Labor member for Dandenong, member of the Privileges Committee and co-signatory of the minority report of the Committee, speaking to Neos Kosmos said that Labor, after receiving expert legal advice, supported the proposition that Geoff Shaw was wilful in contravening the Code of Conduct of MPs, and was therefore in contempt of Parliament. “This is why we requested his expulsion from Parliament,” said Mr Pandazopoulos.
“Our report was based on legal precedents and Geoff Shaw throughout this extended period of time has not been remorseful,” said the Dandenong MP.
According to the Labor opposition, if Geoff Shaw had been expelled on Wednesday he would lose his salary and entitlements and he would not be eligible for a severance payment of more than $36,000 after the next election.
Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews said the chaos in Parliament would continue and described the whole handling by the government as a dysfunctional circus.
Victorian Premier Denis Napthine appealed to Labor on Thursday to pass forthcoming legislation in relation to tougher sentencing for drug trafficking and culpable driving.
