A former Liberal National Party MP has empathised with Labor outcast Billy Gordon and taken aim at his political opponents.

David Gibson stood down at the 2015 election after having a mental breakdown because evidence of his conviction for fraud over a decade before was leaked by rivals within the LNP.

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He sees similarities with what’s happened to Mr Gordon in relation to allegations of domestic violence and his criminal record.

“There are parallels here. People are using people’s pasts for base political purposes and being selective about when they go public with it,” Mr Gibson said.

“There are serious questions about these people’s judgment.

“It shows they’re not concerned about the real issues, but about whether they can benefit from them politically.”

The former MP was also concerned about Mr Gordon’s mental state, as the allegations are currently being investigated.

“He is a human being; he’s no different to anybody else. He has family and he would be under an immense amount of mental health pressure,” Mr Gibson said.

“There would be nothing worse than if this individual experienced a nervous breakdown like I did and then we found the claims were unsubstantiated.”

Mr Gibson said there was an unhealthy obsession with vetting politicians, suggesting it would lead to a class of politicians being so squeaky clean that they had no life experience.

“We will be poorer if that happens. People make mistakes and they should also be given the opportunity to move on from those mistakes,” he added.

“We shouldn’t be judged solely on that, but on how we pick ourselves up.”