Former federal MP Craig Thomson has been told he may have to do community work in Victoria or face jail time if he can't pay a $25,000 fine for stealing union funds to pay for prostitutes.
Thomson appeared in the Victorian County Court on Friday seeking permission to pay his $25,000 fine in instalments of $50 a month.
He told Judge Lisa Hannan his income is only $3000 a month, which is less than his mortgage repayments.
"We've survived on assistance from family and friends," Mr Thomson said.
Judge Hannan told Thomson there was "just no prospect" of her granting an order for him to pay his fine in instalments of $50 a month.
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She suggested he consider converting some of the penalty into community services hours in Victoria.
"This is what stands between you and doing days in jail," Judge Hannan said.
Thomson, 50, was convicted of 13 counts of theft following cash withdrawals he made from a bank account belonging to the Health Services Union between 2003 and 2007 when he was the union's national secretary.
He avoided a jail term but was fined $25,000.
Judge Hannan said it would simply be a "travesty" to order a $50 a month payment plan when Thomson had $25,000 to pay.
The Victorian County Court does not grant instalment orders for payment periods longer than two years, a prosecutor said.
Thomson said he wasn't seeking an instalment order for the full fine, just until circumstances improve.
He told the court his mortgage repayments were $3300 a month and that he had received a loan of $400,000 from his parents to help get by.
His monthly income includes his wife's salary from her job at the Cancer Council, he said.
Judge Hannan told Thomson to get some legal advice and adjourned the matter until next month.
