Nineteen new charges have been laid against independent MP Craig Thomson after he appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court today.

The new charges include 15 counts of fraud and four new charges of theft.

Thomson is facing 173 charges in total.

His lawyer asked the court for more time and also asked that future court dates avoid the final two sitting weeks of Parliament.

The court heard police had spoken to 140 witnesses and lawyers for Thomson expected 43 of them to be called to give evidence in court.

Thomson is accused of using Health Service Union (HSU) credit cards to pay for prostitutes, hotels and flights along with other personal items while he was the union's national secretary between 2003 and 2007.

The magistrate acknowledged there was an enormous volume of information to get through and bailed Thomson until July 1.

Outside the court Thomson was unwilling to comment on the new charges levelled against him.

"The matter is before the court. I can't really make further comment today," he said.

He denied the matter was a distraction to his parliamentary commitments.

Last week Thomson announced he was quitting the Labor Party.

He said he would contest his New South Wales central coast seat of Dobell as an independent at the September 14 election.