* Tony Crook will now sit and vote with Coalition
* Gillard controls parliament with help of Greens
* Crook strongly criticised the carbon and mining taxes
OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott's parliamentary numbers have won a boost, with Nationals MP Tony Crook formally joining the Coalition.
The West Australian MP, who has been on the cross benches, will sit with his party's colleagues in parliament from Tuesday, The Nationals say.
The move by Mr Crook, who has voted with Labor more than 30 times in the lower house since the last election, puts the Coalition's numbers at 72 members to Labor's 71.
While Prime Minister Julia Gillard still controls the house through her deals with the independents and Greens, Tony Abbott now has bragging rights for which major party has more members, and more discipline over Mr Crook's vote.
Nationals Leader Warren Truss welcomed Mr Crook's move today following the WA Nationals' central council meeting in Perth.
"After extensive consultation with his constituency and his Nationals WA colleagues, Tony has made a decision that I am certain is in the best interests of his electorate of O'Connor and the nation," Mr Truss said.
Mr Truss said Mr Crook's decision to sit on the crossbenches after the 2010 federal election had "raised a few eyebrows", but that the party understood he was simply trying to get the best possible results for his electorate.
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