I had the great privilege of being invited to visit Marco Bolano and his family in Melbourne on Tuesday.   Marco and Kylie have two beautiful little girls and Marco's mum and dad were there as well.

This is a very personal message for every MP in the House of Representatives.  Please listen to Mr and Mrs Bolano and to Marco and Kylie's children.   You'll hear how much pain Craig Thomson MP caused this family when he abused parliamentary privilege to falsely accuse Marco of threatening to set him up with "hookers".

To Marco and Kylie, thank you for inviting me in, it was a privilege to meet your family.   I know that Thomson has caused you immense pain.  I hope our Parliamentarians are listening.   Please ladies and gentlemen of the House, make this right for the Bolanos.

Here's poor Marco being swamped by the media outside the courtroom.

After the court proceedings Marco and I went for a walk up to the Trades Hall in Carlton.  We took this photo of Marco in one of the old meeting rooms, where tradesmen or guild members who valued their craft used to meet together.  There was something about that photo that really captured the sense of loss that blokes like Marco feel when they look at what the union movement has become.