From a political perspective, all that matters in the Craig Thomson saga is whether the MP is eligible to remain in Parliament.

If Labor had a 10-seat majority, the Coalition would not be showing much interest at all in the case.

But Labor has a one-seat margin and if Thomson were drummed out, then the government would most likely fall as it could not, in the current climate, conceivably hold his Central Coast seat of Dobell in a by-election.

But to be drummed out, an MP must be convicted of an indictable offence that carries a penalty of a year or more in jail.

As of now, Thomson has not even been charged with anything. He has not even been officially accused of a criminal offence.

Fair Work Australia says it found 181 contraventions which occurred during the period Thomson was at the helm of the Health Services Union, before his move to Federal Parliament.

Of these, 76 were minor administrative breaches which do not warrant further action or penalty. The other 105, says FWA, are breaches of the Workplace Relations Act which it will refer to the Federal Court for civil action. The maximum penalty for each is a fine.

FWA says it is not qualified to judge whether any of these breaches may also constitute criminal activity so it has sent the whole report to the DPP, rather than the police, to make that determination.

For Labor - and Thomson - the best result yesterday would have been for FWA to make its findings and, as it did when it handed down a report into the HSU's Victorian East branch a month ago, decide none of the breaches warranted referral to the DPP.

Notwithstanding the two ongoing police investigations in NSW and Victoria, this would have resolved the matter, insofar as it would have eliminated the prospect of criminal charges against Thomson emanating from the Fair Work Australia process.

However, referral to the DPP keeps the issue alive as a distraction and an embarrassment for federal Labor and keeps alive the prospect that criminal charges may result.

Thus, the nightmare continues.

If criminal charges do emerge, given the glacial pace of the legal system, it is unlikely there would be an outcome before the federal election is due by the spring of next year.

In its bones, the Opposition knows this, so its tactic is to try and muster moral outrage over the concept of Julia Gillard's government depending on an MP who is under investigation by the DPP.

It hopes to create enough pressure that four independent MPs support it in moving a no-confidence motion against the government, which would end its tenure.

The shadow attorney-general, George Brandis, has demanded Thomson should at least move to the cross benches.

Apart from the fact Thomson must be presumed innocent until proved otherwise, the biggest impediment to the Coalition argument is the fact Tony Abbott stood by and accepted the vote last year of his own Senator, Mary Jo Fisher, after she had been actually charged with theft and assault.

The alleged offences are not the same but the principle is.

Charges or not, the Thomson nightmare continues for Labor