Albo plays down Thomson beer photos ANTHONY Albanese insists it was no big deal: just a 10-minute chat over a beer at a Sydney watering hole. But the coalition thinks there's something untoward in the deputy prime minister's brief encounter with scandal-plagued former Labor MP Craig Thomson. Mr Albanese has admitted he met Mr Thomson at the Bavarian Bier Cafe in the Sydney CBD on Tuesday. He says it was just a chance encounter in the bar that many politicians and staffers visit after finishing work at the nearby Commonwealth offices. He says he stopped in for a drink with a colleague and Mr Thomson joined them for a beer. He said the main topic of their 10-minute talk was Mr Thomson's father's birthday celebrations. He was suspended from the ALP before leaving the party to stand as an independent candidate for this year's election. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said the meeting underlined the fact Labor had not ruled out doing a crossbench deal to form another minority government. "The deputy leader was caught negotiating with one of the current independents in a Sydney bar last night," Mr Abbott said. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was asked whether the meeting was appropriate. "I do many things in life but supervising the drinking activities of my ministerial colleagues is not one of them," he told reporters. David Harris, one of the potential candidates, has told AAP he will not be standing for preselection for family and employment reasons. Emma McBride, the daughter of former state MP Grant McBride, has also been named as a possible candidate even though she turned down preselection in May.