The federal coalition will accept the vote of former Speaker Peter Slipper despite condemning the government for doing the same with suspended Labor MP Craig Thomson.
'Peter Slipper has been an independent for nearly 12 months and I would treat him as other independents,' deputy opposition leader Julie Bishop told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.
A day earlier Ms Bishop told parliament she would struggle to show respect to Mr Slipper because of the views he held about women.
Mr Slipper resigned his post in the wake of crude text messages in text messages sent to adviser James Ashby, who has accused his former boss of sexual harassment.
In his first vote as an independent MP, Mr Slipper voted with the government on Wednesday over a change in procedure for the election of a second deputy speaker.
Liberal frontbencher Christopher Pyne insisted there was a difference between the coalition accepting Mr Slipper's vote and Labor accepting Mr Thomson's.
'Craig Thomson is facing the prospect of criminal charges with the allegation being he has stolen for his own personal benefit half a million dollars of the money of Health Services Union members,' he told reporters, adding Labor wanted to have their cake and eat it too.
'They want the benefit of excluding him from the caucus as well as accepting his vote.'
Labor MP Andrew Leigh said coalition hypocrisy was nothing new.
'Under the Howard government they were happy to accept Mal Colston's vote (which) was important in the sale of Telstra,' he said.
Australian Greens MP Adam Bandt said it was constitutionally correct to accept Mr Slipper's vote on behalf of his electorate.
'I don't think the people of a particular electorate should suffer because of the misdeeds of someone put in there,' he said.
Mr Bandt derided the opposition for the way it tried to remove Mr Slipper.
'I don't think the opposition was motivated by preserving the dignity and importance of parliament,' he said.
'I think yesterday decency was being trashed all around by everyone, frankly.'
