NSW Labor MPs have rallied around John Robertson as he was censured in parliament over his failure to report a $3 million bribe attempt.
A motion to censure the embattled opposition leader passed parliament on Thursday, as he faced a blitz of criticism over the bribe, offered by murdered Sydney businessman Michael McGurk when Mr Robertson was the boss of Unions NSW.
Mr McGurk offered the sweetener in exchange for the sale of the holiday property Currawong in Sydney's north, owned by Unions NSW, but was flatly rejected.
After the censure motion was introduced Labor MPs Michael Daley and Nathan Rees - who have both been touted as possible replacements for Mr Robertson - stood to defend their leader.
Mr Daley described the censure motion as a "stunt" and said not a single media commentator had questioned his honesty.
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Mr Rees continued the defence by providing a shopping list of indiscretions, citing the resignation of former Nationals MP Steve Cansdell over signing a false declaration to avoid a speeding fine.
He then pointed to the sacking of Finance Minister Greg Pearce after he failed to disclose a conflict of interest over an appointment at Sydney Water.
"There will be a range of views about how any of us might have handled a similar situation (to the bribe), but the fact of the matter is it was six years prior to the opposition leader's entry into this parliament," he said.
But Liberal MP Andrew Constance warned the issue was not going away, and would haunt Mr Robertson into the next election.
"We look forward to one day the leader of the opposition being open and accountable about this matter but we very much doubt it," he told the parliament.
The censure motion comes after the Liberal candidate for Miranda, Brett Thomas, told AAP that voters were raising the attempted bribe with him as they head into this Saturday's by-election.
