This is a good day at work

News.com.au MP caught napping during NATO speech

Was representing Australia as an observer.

Last year was seen sleeping in Parliamen.

THE deadly war in Afghanistan was all a bit of a yawn for Victorian MP Fran Bailey as she enjoyed one last free trip on the taxpayer.

The serial snoozer was caught napping on the last day of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Edinburgh, where the defence alliance promised "substantially more forces" would be sent into Afghanistan.

This photo clearly shows the Member for McEwen sound asleep while representing Australia as a NATO observer.

It's not the first time Ms Bailey, 63, has fallen asleep on the job, the Herald Sun reports.

Last year in Parliament, Labor MP Anthony Albanese asked: "I wonder if someone can get the Member for McEwen a pillow." It was too much for Labor MP Daryl Melham, who interjected: "She is constantly asleep!"

Ms Bailey, who is retiring at the next election, is in Europe as part of an Australian parliamentary delegation to the NATO Assembly.

She was selected for the "last lap" jaunt by chief Opposition whip Alexander Somlyay.

Ms Bailey's spokesman said she could not be contacted yesterday because it was the middle of the night in Scotland and she would probably be asleep.

It is her second trip to Europe this year, after a mid-year study tour to Germany to investigate firefighting techniques that could be applied to her bushfire-ravaged seat east of Melbourne.

The former Howard government minister's report following that trip was widely praised by both sides of politics.

McEwen is the most marginal seat in the country, and Liberal strategists consider it unwinnable without the personal following that Ms Bailey has built up over her 19 years in Parliament.

Australia is not a NATO member but our troops often serve alongside NATO troops.

The Rudd Government has consistently called on NATO countries to boost their efforts in Afghanistan before Australia considers supplying more troops to fight the Taliban.