Former federal Labor MP Craig Thomson has been "arrogant in the extreme" and should serve a jail term for his fraud convictions, lawyers have told a pre-sentence hearing.

Defence and prosecution lawyers made submissions at a hearing in the Melbourne Magistrates Court ahead of Thomson's sentencing next Tuesday.

Thomson was found guilty of 65 fraud charges relating to the misuse of his union credit cards while federal secretary of the Health Services Union.

He stole thousands of dollars to pay for sex services and cigarettes.

Prosecutor Lesley Taylor SC argued Thomson had not "uttered one word of remorse" and that anything less than an immediate jail term would be inadequate.

She maintained he had used the media and the shield of parliamentary privilege to falsely blame others.

Thomson's defence lawyer, Greg James QC, told the court his client's career and prospects have been destroyed and he now has a major depressive disorder.

Mr James said Thomson had acted on impulse and obtained cash opportunistically when his marriage was breaking down and he "sought comfort elsewhere".

The court heard Thomson has been subjected to extremely intrusive media attention and his wife had also been harassed by photographers.

Mr James argued Thomson was suffering the consequences of his breach of trust far more than other white collar offenders, in part, because he had a vital casting vote in Parliament.

He said it was always a problem when courts have to sentence a public figure but he urged the magistrate not to ignore his career as a public servant.

"If he hadn't spent the money on prostitutes or pornographic movies then there was unlikely to have been concern," Mr James said.

He added that while it may not be socially acceptable to pay prostitutes, it was not illegal.

"He has not been convicted on spending money on prostitutes," he said.

The defence told Magistrate Charlie Rozencwajg there was a raft of sentencing alternatives to jail and that Thomson has taken out a mortgage to repay the $24,538.42 he had taken.

Outside court union whistleblower Kathy Jackson, who took over as national secretary when Thomson resigned in 2007 called for a tough sentence.

"When you go before the Parliament and the media you try to blame everybody but yourself, there has to be a strong message sent," she said.

Ms Jackson says the union has been hurt by the actions of Thomson.

"It's done an enormous amount of damage to the union movement, enormous damage across the country, not just in the Health Services Union but across the movement," she said.

"We need to make sure this never happens again in the Health Services Union let alone in any other union."

Coalition uses Parliament to up pressure on Labor over HSU cash

The Federal Coalition Government has seized on Thomson's intention to repay the money, pressuring the Labor party to repay an additional $267,000 in HSU funding Thomson used to fund his election campaign in 2007.

Manager of Government Business Christopher Pyne targeted Opposition Leader Bill Shorten over the issue in the House of Representatives today.

"If the Leader of the Opposition had any decency, if he could rise above his background, if he could be Bob Hawke rather than small Bill Shorten, he would pay back that $267,000 on Health Services Union members money," he said.

Mr Pyne later acceded to Opposition calls to withdraw the word "small".