Craig Thomson names names, claims he's the victim

Craig Thomson has used parliamentary privilege to name names regarding his claim that former colleagues of the Health Services Union framed him over allegations that he misused union funds. 

He named Marco Bolano, deputy general secretary of the HSU East, as once threatening to "ruin any political career that I sought, and would set me up with a bunch of hookers."

"I had many enemies in the HSU, many enemies who didn't like increased transparency," Thomson said during the hour long statement to Parliament today. "Many enemies who would prefer that there was no national office."

He also made a series of allegations about HSU national secretary Kathy Jackson and Michael Williamson, and claimed that at one point during his time at the HSU they urged him to take his salary and quit attempting to fix problems with the union.

Thomson gave his statement in an attempt to answer to "flimsy" evidence collected by Fair Work Australia in explaining the FWA report's findings that he misused union funds.

He had alibis for three of the seven incidents reported by FWA relating to escort services. While he could not explain how escorts were booked on his mobile phone, he did say mobile phone "cloning" and identify theft was not particularly difficult to do.

Thomson opened his address by stating that he and his family have been the victim a "lynch mob" unleashed by, and fanned, by the Opposition and the media.

He then gave a long and detailed account of his early union career, and noted that when he arrived at the HSU he sought to address problems with the the union, including the fact it had a "very poor history of infighting" and poor record on meetings.

After breaking down in tears about media harassment of his family, he ended by quoting from To Kill a Mocking Bird and pointing his finger at Tony Abbott. "Not only is he not fit to be a Prime Minister. He is not fit to be an MP," he said.