Nick Xenophon's running mate unleashes extraordinary attack

In an extraordinary parliamentary attack, Ms Bressington described Mr Xenophon as a typical politician and a "chameleon", and implied that he had made requests to State Treasury for illegal funding.

And she said a number of constituents he had represented were left without assistance after he received media attention.

In a separate attack later in the day, she claimed he compelled her to take out a "huge" personal loan to cover 2006 election campaign costs following her unexpected victory, which resulted from Mr Xenophon's 20.5 per cent share of the Upper House vote.

She said she would not have joined his ticket if she knew Mr Xenophon would request that she take out a personal bank loan of almost $50,000. But Mr Xenophon, who was campaigning in the Riverland yesterday, said Ms Bressington had offered to help fund the campaign and voluntarily contributed almost $40,000.

He said he was "deeply upset" by the comments and pleaded with South Australians to judge him on his record.

He denied all of Ms Bressington's claims. "My plea to South Australians is what they see is what they get, my heart and soul is in this job," he said.

"It is portraying a picture of me that is false and I just don't understand this; I don't get it, why she has sought to damage me in this way. Privately and publicly, I have been very supportive of her."

Ms Bressington, who received only 32 primary votes at the poll, said she often had to wait days before Mr Xenophon would return phone calls and in one of her most extraordinary statements, she raised questions about a request he made for extra funding for parliamentary staff.

"He made a lot of noise about the fact the limited resources made available to all independents in this and the other place were not sufficient for him because of his excessive workload," she said.

"What if, in fact, his resources were limited as a result of poor human resource management or even more interesting, that this honourable member may have made requests of the Treasurer that according to my information, could not have been legally executed.

"Will these questions ever be pursued by those who have built up one man to be the hero of all South Australians - our very own Robin Hood."

Mr Xenophon told The Advertiser he had asked Treasury about special provisions for funding the salaries of his staff but the Auditor-General had cleared him of any wrongdoing after it had been suggested he had acted improperly.

"Kevin Foley in the bar one night said that (request) was not proper and it surprised me that he had accused me of that," he said.

"I actually wrote to the Auditor-General about it and I got a letter back saying there was nothing improper about the request."

Mr Foley could not be contacted for comment last night.

Outside Parliament, Ms Bressington claimed she was not trying to sabotage Mr Xenophon's election hopes and believed her comments were unlikely to alter voters' opinions.

"It is not about the election, let me just make that very clear," she said. She also denied references to populist former U.S. politician Huey Long had been made because Mr Long was widely believed to have been corrupt during his career in the 1920s and 1930s.

MPs from both major parties congratulated Ms Bressington outside the chamber after her first speech. One senior Labor source said they thought the speech was balanced and that many MPs sitting in the chamber had agreed with what Ms Bressington said.

But Independent MP Kris Hanna said it was unacceptable that the comments had been made at a joint sitting of Parliament to endorse Mr Xenophon's replacement John Darley.

"I think it was in poor taste," he said. "I think it was like speaking ill of the dead at someone's funeral; it is unprecedented for a retiring member to be maligned on the occasion of the ceremony for filling the vacancy."

The widow of cyclist Ian Humphrey, Di Gilcrist, who was supported by Mr Xenophon during ongoing court cases including the Kapunda Road Royal Commission, said Mr Xenophon had not abandoned her after he had gained media coverage.

Following the help he provided her she had joined his election campaign team and yesterday said she was "astounded" by Ms Bressington's comments that he no longer assisted many constituents following media coverage.

"I am not the exception to the rule, Nick foremost is a friend and a politician second," she said.

Political expert Clem Macintyre said Ms Bressington's comments could have a negative impact on his election campaign but believed Mr Xenophon had a strong support base which would get him elected at Saturday's election.