News Service from House Harris

NSW: NSW govt rejects breath-test proposal for MPs

SYDNEY, Dec 4 AAP - The NSW government has dismissed calls to breath test MPs before they vote on legislation, saying the state's politicians are generally well behaved.

The plan was touted after Andrew Fraser was forced to resign on Wednesday following an incident involving fellow Nationals MP Katrina Hodgkinson.

Mr Fraser pushed his colleague's arm away as she attempted to intervene in a heated exchange with Labor MP John Aquilina following a vote in the lower house late on Tuesday.

Nationals leader Andrew Stoner confirmed Mr Fraser had been at the NSW Farmers Federation Christmas drinks, but did not know if he was drunk.

Health Minister John Della Bosca said that in his experience, MPs from all sides of politics took their obligations seriously.

"That includes their attitudes towards alcohol and other issues," he told parliament on Thursday.

"I think we're all taking our jobs very seriously."

However, Mr Della Bosca said he wouldn't mind if the NSW Parliament House bar wanted to install a breathalyser machine like those found in pubs and clubs.

The breath-testing proposal was also rejected by the federal opposition, with frontbencher Tony Abbott saying "we have too many moral panics in our society".

He said instances of bad behaviour were rare, sometimes occurring after late-night sittings and end-of-year parties.

"They are not absolutely unknown in this parliament and we have got to see it all in perspective," Mr Abbott said.

But the Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) said politicians should face the same stringent drug and alcohol tests faced by rail workers.

"All rail workers are subjected to random drug and alcohol tests, an infringement on their personal lives that they are told is necessary due to the safety-critical nature of their work," RTBU secretary Nick Lewocki said.

"But driving the state is every bit as safety critical, and decisions our politicians make on issues as diverse as health, education and transport policy do affect public lives."

Mr Fraser's sacking on Wednesday came after he was involved in a similar incident in 2005, when he chased then roads minister Joe Tripodi across the chamber and grabbed him by the shirt before being restrained by other MPs and staff.