Theophanous set for parliament return

Embattled MP Theo Theophanous is expected to return to the Victorian parliament on
Tuesday for the first time since he was accused of rape.
His appearance at the first session for 2009 is set to cause further discomfort for
the government, which is also reeling from the desertion of a once promising cabinet
aspirant.
Mr Theophanous stood down from his industry and trade portfolio after he was charged
on Christmas Eve with raping a woman at parliament house 10 years ago.
Evan Thornley, the upper house MP mooted to replace him, spurned the cabinet post
for a plum corporate job in an embarrassing rebuff for the government.
He will be replaced by Melbourne lawyer Jennifer Huppert, who was appointed the new
member for Southern Metropolitan Region in a hastily convened preselection.
Ms Huppert will be sworn in this week.
Some government MPs say Mr Theophanous should not be returning at all.
"Because of the nature of what he's been charged with, I believe he should resign
fully from the house, I don't believe he should return when parliament resumes," one
source said.
Another said Mr Theophanous deserved the benefit of the doubt but it was better for
the government if he was not around.
"It's obviously undesirable, it would be better if we weren't going through this
particular situation.
"But until he's been proven guilty of anything it's up to him to decide."
Mr Theophanous did not return calls from AAP.
The beginning of the parliamentary year will be overshadowed by the fallout from
last week's heatwave fiasco.
The government is under increasing pressure to explain how vital services crashed as
the state sweltered through a summer scorcher.
Hundreds of trains were cancelled and power supplies went into meltdown when the
temperature topped 43 degrees celsius for a record three consecutive days.
Premier John Brumby conceded on Monday that the state's infrastructure may need an
upgrade to deal with extreme weather.
But he said it would be too expensive and could not guarantee the same failures
would not occur next summer.
"We will need, I think, to examine infrastructure and to make sure that in an
environment where there is likely to be more extreme events that the infrastructure
which is in place is able to cater (sic) with that," Mr Brumby said.
"But you know, unless you want to spend ... huge amounts of money, you know, you can
never guarantee something against a one-in-1,000-year or one-in-500-year event."
Mr Brumby will outline the legislative agenda for the year in a statement of
government intentions on Tuesday.