Victorian balance-of-power MP Geoff Shaw has been suspended from parliament for 11 sitting days.
STATE Parliament has cast Geoff Shaw out of the Lower House until September after Premier Denis Napthine's bid to suspend the rogue Frankston MP was successful.
Mr Shaw will have to limit his work to his electorate until September 2, but will still be paid on non-sitting days and have access to tens of thousands of dollars worth of office perks.
Labor tried to vote to expel Mr Shaw, for the misuse of his taxpayer funded car, but was unsuccessful.
Instead, the Coalition's punishment — for suspension until September 2, a ban on taxpayer-funded travel, a formal apology, and 11 days' of pay docked — was passed.
Mr Shaw was absent for both votes, despite reportedly being seen in Parliament House.
Labor slammed the government for being as soft "as fairy floss" and for being "weak", by allowing Mr Shaw to remain an MP.
The government said Mr Shaw had to apologise for misuse of entitlements to stay in the Lower House after September 2, otherwise he would be expelled for contempt.
MP Geoff Shaw tries to have a joke with Nationals MP Tim McCurdy in Parliament. D Day for MP Geoff Shaw at Parliament House. Picture: Nicole Garmston
Premier Denis Napthine's motion won majority support and the independent MP will be suspended for 11 sitting days and must apologise and repay money for misusing his parliamentary car.
Former Liberal Speaker Ken Smith, whom Mr Shaw helped oust, supported the government motion after a change of heart.
A Labor amendment to expel Mr Shaw was lost after the vote was tied with Labor and the coalition both on 42 and the Liberal Speaker used her casting vote to side with the government.
The amendment was therefore lost and a further vote to approve the government motion to suspend Mr Shaw was backed by a majority.
Mr Shaw was not in the chamber for the vote.
Mr Smith previously said he would back a Labor bid to expel the Frankston MP.
Geoff Shaw's seat remained empty during the furore and vote over his Parliamentary rorts. Picture: Jay Town
Mr Smith's backing of Dr Napthine's motion helped ensure it got up, while Labor's attempt to amend the government's motion to find Mr Shaw in contempt and expel him failed.
Mr Smith says the suspension will ensure the Liberal-turned-independent MP pays the price for misusing his parliamentary entitlements.
But Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews said Mr Shaw had engaged in deceit and conspiracy.
"This is rorting plain and simple. This is wrong," Mr Andrews told parliament.
He accused Dr Napthine of being motivated by self-interest and of driving a motion which ensures the government avoids a by-election before the November 29 state poll.
"The premier has been motivated by one thing and one thing only, and that's his political survival," Mr Andrews said.
Premier Denis Napthine following the vote. Picture: Jay Town
A government-dominated parliamentary privileges committee found Mr Shaw breached the MP code of conduct by misusing his parliamentary car, but its Labor members wanted a contempt finding. The last time a MP was expelled from the Victorian parliament was 1901.
The suspension had looked the most likely outcome as a punishment for Mr Shaw after Liberal MP Ken Smith ruled out supporting expulsion.
Mr Smith, who was the Speaker who began investigating allegations of Mr Shaw's misuse of his taxpayer car after a Sunday Herald Sun report, said the Frankston MP had "trashed" parliament's reputation.
But he said he feared an expulsion, proposed by Labor, would lead to a dangerous precedent that could be misused by political parties in the future.
It comes as the Napthine Government today introduced a motion to have Mr Shaw suspended for 11 sitting days, which the Opposition sought to amend in order to more harshly expel him.
Mr Andrews said Mr Shaw's behaviour was "why we as politicians are regarded so lowly".
Opposition leader Daniel Andrews following the vote on Geoff Shaw. Picture: Jay Town
Mr Andrews also took aim at Premier Denis Napthine, saying he had only been motivated to punish Shaw — who remained absent from the gallery throughout the debate — for his own political survival.
This is not a golden handshake but a "golden bear hug" for Mr Shaw if he stays in Parliament and is paid, Mr Andrews said.
Under Dr Napthine's plan, Mr Shaw will be stripped of 11 days' pay, fine him $6838, and forced to formally apologise for wrongdoing.
However, Mr Andrews said what was needed was an appropriate penalty for the worst behaviour seen in a very long time.
Mr Andrews wanted the amendment to say Mr Shaw is in contempt of the Parliament and to be expelled.
"This is not a political star chamber and this is not the Big Brother House," said Dr Napthine.
Victorian Premier Denis Napthine is moving to suspend independent MP Geoff Shaw from parliament.
"It is absolutely imperative that this House acts with fairness and justice. Our decisions should not be coloured by political expediency," he said.
Dr Napthine said expulsion "hasn't been used in Victoria since 1901."
He also reverenced cases in the UK's House of Commons, saying expulsion was a very serious matter and should not be done lightly.
Debate begun on the motion, with staff from his electorate office sitting in the public gallery watching the proceedings.
"There is no doubt in my mind that the member for Frankston misused his taxpayer funded entitlements," Dr Napthine told the Legislative Assembly.
"This motion will ensure that the member for Frankston accepts the serious consequences for his actions".
Herald Sun State political reporter Matt Johnston comments on what might happen to Geoff Shaw.
He said it would outline a "fair, just and appropriate" penalty and outlined the consequences for Mr Shaw if he failed to abide by the motion.
Dr Napthine said part four of the motion, requiring Mr Shaw to accept responsibility for "his wrongdoing" and to apologise for "his wrongdoing" was very important.
The Premier said the 11 day suspension was the longest in Victorian Parliament.
"Over the past 100 years in this House the highest number of days any member has been named for is six days," Dr Napthine said.
Deputy leader of the Oppositiom, James Merlino, spoke for 10 minutes and said that in other lines of work "the Member for Frankston would be sacked."
"It is within this Parliament's power, it is the right thing to do ... The Member for Frankston should be expelled," Mr Merlino added.
He said Dr Napthine had "squibbed" his chance to match his tough words on Mr Shaw with tough actions.
"According to the Premier it's only appropriate to expel a member if they've committed murder or it's September 2014."
National Party leader Peter Ryan, who also spoke for 10 minutes, said although Mr Shaw breached a code of conduct "this member has never been found guilty of a crime".
He said the penalty sought to be imposed upon Mr Shaw was the strongest since the Victorian Parliament was created in 1901.
Under Dr Napthine's plans, Mr Shaw would still be paid on the days Parliament isn't sitting, until his suspension ended on September 2.
The Opposition wanted Mr Shaw to be held in contempt of Parliament and expelled for misusing his parliamentary car for his private hardware business.
In his first question to Dr Napthine, Opposition leader Daniel Andrews asked whether he was aware that a member who was likely to be suspended for 11 days would receive $163,000 in salary and entitlements between today and the end of November.
Mr Andrews later moved a motion to amend Dr Napthine's motion, and have the house find Mr Shaw guilty of contempt and be immediately expelled.
Mr Andrews said Parliamentary staff members would have lost their jobs for the same actions, or less, than Geoff Shaw.
He said the privileges committee report was a "whitewash" and had found Mr Shaw was not diligent.
"Not being diligent is not using spell check," Mr Andrews said.
"The member for Frankston was not sent to this place to run his small business out of the pockets of taxpayers.
Mr Andrews said it was a great irony the traditional party representing small business had an MP who was caught rorting his entitlements to run his own small business.
"Speaker what's needed is an appropriate penalty for the worst behaviour we've seen for a very long time.
"We in this parliament will not settle for fundamentally failing the people of this great state with the standards that we set.
Mr Andrews said in September Mr Shaw would "strut in" and the "circus would continue" with media crews once again jostling for space to cover the rogue MP.
Asked what he thought of the motion on his way into Parliament, Mr Shaw said it was harsh but he hadn't looked at it fully.
Another condition to be put on Mr Shaw is a ban on taxpayer-funded travel — which the Herald Sun can reveal may affect the Frankston MP's plan for a French getaway this parliamentary winter break.
Mr Shaw's plans, which are understood to also include the UK, would have to be made without using his electorate allowance or other entitlements.
The Herald Sun understands the independent MP has made preliminary inquiries with Australian consular officials about the winter trip as a member of Parliament.
matthew.johnston@news.com.au
CHAOS IN THE HOUSE
VICTORIA'S Lower House will be politically deadlocked until at least September, casting doubt on any controversial new laws put forward by the Government.
Labor and the Coalition will have 43 votes each on the floor of the Legislative Assembly, after Geoff Shaw's suspension last night until September 2.
For new laws opposed by the Opposition to get through the Assembly, Speaker Christine Fyffe would have to use her casting vote to support the Government. While this would defy convention, it would not be unprecedented at state or federal level.
However, if any Coalition MP were missing from the chamber, Labor could defeat the Government at a vote.
The precarious situation also may limit the ability of the Speaker to control the Assembly, because she would find it difficult to "name" MLAs to punish them with suspension.
Mr Shaw had been the balance-of-power MP, supporting the minority Government by providing confidence and supply, and guaranteeing that key Bills involving money would be passed.
Labor has signalled it will not block these Bills. Shadow treasurer Tim Pallas last week said the Opposition backed 75 per cent of legislation put forward. On Bills they do oppose, Ms Fyffe would be required to vote.
Government sources have pointed to the Hamer government in the late 1970s and early '80s, when the Speaker was sometimes forced to vote with the government on Bills.
At that time, the Liberals had 41 members to Labor's 32 and the Nationals' eight.
With a Liberal as Speaker, votes were sometimes tied if Labor and the Nationals teamed up against a Bill. In those cases, the Speaker allowed laws to pass.
Former premier Jeff Kennett said if this situation happened again, "I don't think this matters at all".
He said he would be surprised if Labor caused chaos because the party had to "get back to what matters" before the election.
Mr Kennett said he expected that if Mr Shaw returned to Parliament following his suspension, he would provide confidence and supply "after what Labor's done".
"He is fundamentally a small businessman and a conservative," he said.
"I expect him to vote with the Government on most matters."
It's a numbers game
The Legislative Assembly without Geoff Shaw
*Total: 88 seats
*Labor: 43 MPs
*Coalition: 44 MPs
*1 absent (Shaw)
Voting on new laws and other matters
*Total: 86 votes on the floor
*Labor: 43 votes
*Coalition: 43 votes
*Speaker: independent so only votes when result is tied to break a deadlock
matthew.johnston@news.com.au
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