Former Victorian Speaker Telmo Languiller is back at work after taking sick leave amid an expenses scandal saying he will serve out his full term.
Mr Languiller was found in February to be claiming $38,000 in second residence allowances to live in Queenscliff - and not his western Melbourne electorate of Tarneit - for most of 2016.
The allowance is designed to help country MPs maintain a second home in the city for when parliament sits.
But an audit committee found gaping holes in the rules that allowed both Mr Languiller and his former deputy Don Nardella to claim the perk despite not being country MPs.
On his return to work on Tuesday after paying the money back, Mr Languiller read out a typed statement while flanked by fellow Labor MPs.
He said he understood he did not meet the high community expectations.
"I also regret that this issue diverted from the government's important agenda and the workings of the parliament," Mr Languiller said.
Mr Languiller did not want to explain the personal issues that saw him wrongfully claim the allowance and take time off.
He only said that they "were complex, were challenging and may I say in some cases life-threatening."
Mr Languiller will serve out his full term and consult with family, friends and colleagues about running in the 2018 election.
The government has set about overhauling the entitlements system after the scandal.
The audit found that while Mr Languiller had claimed the allowance for almost a year, Melton MP Mr Nardella had been claiming it since 2010 - first in Ballarat, then in Ocean Grove.
The audit raised questions over the legitimacy of his Ocean Grove claim.
After months of pressure the Melton MP agreed during the April parliamentary break to pay back nearly $100,000.
Mr Nardella will pay the money back in fortnightly instalments and a $16,000 lump sum by the 2018 election.
As parliament resumed on Tuesday, Mr Languiller took a seat on the backbench and the opposition quizzed Premier Daniel Andrews over guarantees that Mr Nardella would refund the cash.
"The terms, the nature, the details of the arrangement between parliamentary services and the member for Melton are not known to me, nor should they be," Mr Andrews told parliament.
Earlier on Tuesday Mr Andrews said it was "very good to see" Mr Languiller back at work.
