Govt lashes Thomson TV coverage

7 Jun 2012, 12:28 pm   -   Source: AAP
A prostitute who originally told the Nine Network she had slept with Labor MP Craig Thomson recanted her story on the Seven Network on Wednesday. (AAP)

A prostitute who originally told the Nine Network she had slept with Labor MP Craig Thomson recanted her story on the Seven Network on Wednesday. (AAP)

The government says the reporting of the Craig Thomson affair offers it more scope to pursue firmer regulation of the media.

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The government's chief whip says the reporting of the Craig Thomson affair offers it more scope to pursue firmer regulation of the media.

A prostitute who originally told the Nine Network she had slept with Labor MP Craig Thomson recanted her story on the Seven Network on Wednesday.

The woman told Seven she had asked A Current Affair to cancel a story claiming Mr Thomson had been a client of hers.

She claimed she was in New Zealand during May 2005, when she supposedly had sex with Mr Thomson.

Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon said the interview on Wednesday was "extraordinary" and the story was not the path for journalism in Australia.

The government had two initiatives in the pipeline to enforce media standards, he said.

"(They are) the establishment of a tort of privacy and greater government regulations of the media," Mr Fitzgibbon told ABC Radio on Thursday.

"This gives weight to the government pursuing those initiatives with a great deal of enthusiasm."

Mr Fitzgibbon said MPs expected to be held to account by journalists on behalf of their communities but not by tabloid tactics.

"The sort of Fleet Street approach will be rejected by the community," he said.

Mr Thomson rejected allegations last month in parliament that he had used Health Services Union (HSU) money to pay for prostitutes when he was national secretary between 2002 and 2007.

Mr Thomson told reporters at his electorate office he maintained his innocence.

"I've always maintained that I was innocent and what we are seeing is these false allegations against me are starting to unravel," he said.

"At least (the ex-prostitute) had the decency to apologise to myself, my family and friends."

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