The wife who stood by union boss caught using workers' money to pay for SEX gets a restraining order against him
- Ex-MP Craig Thomson was the national secretary of the Health Services Union
- He was found to have used union funds to pay for benefits including sex workers
- Mr Thomson's journalist wife Zoe Arnold stood by him throughout the scandal
- She is 57-year-old Mr Thomson's third wife and the couple has two daughters
- Police have taken out a restraining order to protect Ms Arnold from Mr Thomson
Police have secured a restraining order to protect the wife of a former federal MP who defended him when he was found guilty of using trade union funds to pay for prostitutes.
Zoe Arnold was expecting her first child with Craig Thomson when the allegations were made against her husband in 2009 and later stood by him in court.
Mr Thomson, the onetime Labor member for Dobell, was found guilty of misusing funds while national secretary of the Health Services Union between 2002 and 2007.
A four-year investigation by Fair Work Australia revealed he had used his union credit card for personal gain including paying for brothel visits and escorts.
Police have secured a restraining order to protect Zoe Arnold from her politician husband Craig Thomson who she defended when he was found guilty of using trade union funds to pay for prostitutes. The couple is pictured leaving Melbourne Magistrates Court in 2013
Mr Thomson was found guilty of misusing funds while national secretary of the Health Services Union between 2002 and 2007. An investigation by Fair Work Australia revealed he had used his union credit card for personal gain including paying for brothel visits and escorts
Ms Arnold gave a character reference for Mr Thomson in March 2014 ahead of his sentencing in the Melbourne Magistrates Court.
'My husband is a good man,' the journalist wrote. 'Craig has been a devoted husband, partner and friend to me.
'He supports, encourages and loves me every day. I know I am lucky to have him and will continue to support him, just as he always supports me.'
Ms Arnold was Mr Thomson's third wife and by the time he was sentenced they had two daughters.
'He is beloved by our children who constantly ask where he is if he's not home,' she wrote in the reference. 'They adore there daddy who in turn dotes on them.'
Police were granted an apprehended violence order on Ms Arnold's behalf at Gosford Local Court on the New South Wales Central Coast on Monday.
The two-year AVO prevents 57-year-old Mr Thomson going anywhere Ms Arnold lives, works or to other places listed in the order.
She is called Zoe Thomson in court documents.
Ms Arnold gave a character reference for Mr Thomson ahead of his sentencing over theft charges in March 2014. 'My husband is a good man,' the journalist told Melbourne Magistrates Court. 'Craig has been a devoted husband, partner and friend to me'
Mr Thomson, who was not in court, is banned from assaulting, threatening, stalking or intimidating Ms Arnold, harming any pet she owns or damaging her property.
In her 2014 reference Ms Arnold said the media scrutiny of her husband during the credit card scandal had severely impacted their family life.
'The media coverage has bordered on harassment,' she wrote. 'We have felt like prisoners in our own home.'
Mr Thomson was sorry for the hurt he had caused his family, friends and colleagues, his wife told the court.
'Craig is a man who is devote to his family, his daughters and me,' Ms Arnold said in her reference.
'He has worked very hard every day as a private politician and as a private citizen, genuinely trying to make a positive impact on the local community.'
Mr Thomson (at rear) was elected the member for Dobell on the New South Wales Central Coast in 2007. He moved to the cross bench in April 2012 amid the credit card allegations
Mr Thomson was originally found guilty of 65 charges of fraud and theft for using Health Services Union funds for personal benefits, including the services of prostitutes.
Upon appeal to the County Court of Victoria he was convicted of 13 charges of theft and fined $25,000.
Judge Carolyn Douglas heard Mr Thomson had spent more than $400,000 defending himself and found he had misused union funds of less than $5,000.
'It's none of my business if he had a sex worker, but it is my business if he used someone else's money,' Judge Douglas said.
Mr Thomson was elected the member for Dobell on the Central Coast in 2007, taking the seat from the Liberal Party's Ken Ticehurst.
He moved to the cross bench in April 2012 after the credit card allegations arose but continued to protest his innocence.
Three months later Ms Arnold told the Australian Women's Weekly she remained convinced her husband had not used his union credit card to pay for prostitutes.
Ms Arnold admitted in 2012 she initially assumed the accusations against her husband were true and she had encouraged him to confess to what he had done
She told the magazine that while people saw Mr Thomson as a 'philanderer, a man who's loose with his money and his morals' he was in fact a good husband.
He brought a cup of tea every morning in bed, doted on their children and told her every day how much he loved her.
Ms Arnold admitted she initially assumed the accusations against Mr Thomson were true and she had encouraged him to confess to what he had done.
'Craig looked me straight in the eye and said, 'But I didn't do it', a statement he has repeated publicly and privately again and again.'
Ms Arnold said the strain of the scandal had made her worry her sanity would crack and that being married to Mr Thomson might life a 'red mark next to my name.'
'I love my husband,' she said. 'This will all end one day and then we will still have each other.'
Mr Thomson contested the 2013 federal election but lost his seat to the Liberals' Karen McNamara. The following year he was expelled from the NSW branch of the Labor Party.
Mr Thomson married Ms Arnold, a radio newsreader and media advisor, in January 2011 and their daughters are aged 10 and 12.
