Australia PM dumps tainted MPs

Canberra: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard sidelined two scandal-tarnished parliamentarians yesterday in a move aimed at restoring public confidence in parliament.

The move distances Gillard's unpopular minority government from the unrelated scandals without cutting loose two crucial supporters who help it maintain its tenuous grip on power.

Gillard had previously stood by parliamentary Speaker Peter Slipper and Labor Party lawmaker Craig Thomson, who are under separate criminal investigations. Both deny all allegations.

Harassment

"I believe a line has been crossed about respect for the Parliament, and that has given me sufficient concern that I believe it was the right thing to act and to take the decisions that I have taken," Gillard told reporters at Parliament House.

"I feel keenly that Australians are looking at this parliament, and at the moment they see a dark cloud over it," she said.

Gillard said Slipper had agreed to stand aside as House of Representative Speaker until allegations he fraudulently misused taxi payment vouchers and harassed a male adviser for gay sex are resolved.