Malcolm Turnbull has defended Michaelia Cash for threatening to expose rumours about Bill Shorten's female staff, saying the West Australian senator was being "bullied and provoked" by Labor.
The prime minister backed apologiseresign over the comments she made in a Senate hearing on Wednesday.
"Senator Cash was being bullied and provoked by Senator (Doug) Cameron, who was making insinuations about staff. She made a response which she has unreservedly withdrawn," Mr Turnbull told parliament on Thursday.
Senator Cash provoked outrage among Labor MPs and some in the media on Wednesday when, after being asked by Senator Cameron about the employment record of her chief of staff, she responded by threatening to name women on the opposition leader's staff who had been the subject of "rumours".
The uproar continued on Thursday, with Mr Shorten denouncing the comments and saying his office was still waiting for an apology.
Senator Cash withdrew the remarks during Wednesday's estimates hearing when pushed by Labor Senator Penny Wong, but she did not apologise. Asked again about the comments on Thursday, she said she withdrew them "unreservedly".
She was spotted by a television crew on Thursday apparently being shielded from the media by a whiteboard as she entered another estimates hearing. This provoked a flurry of jokes on social media.
Footage captured by SBS showed security guards in the parliament wheeling a whiteboard into the centre of a corridor as the senator approached, blocking the camera's view of her as she walked past.
During Thursday's estimates hearing, the senator agreed with the prime minister's assessment that she had been attacked by Senator Cameron, calling him a "bully" and saying that he had asked "inappropriate questions".
Mr Shorten said on Thursday that women in his office had been "smeared" by the Liberal senator and said he was shocked by the remarks.
"I’m angry on behalf of the smart, dedicated, hard-working professionals in my office who have been smeared by Michaelia Cash. I’m honestly shocked she hasn’t said sorry. I’ve been waiting for her to ring up my office and organise it."
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton appeared to side with the prime minister, saying people in the Coalition were frustrated with the "moral lectures" from Labor. He named two opposition members who he said had a history of problems in their personal life.
Peter Dutton said there was frustration in the Coalition about Labor's "moral lectures". (AAP) Source: AAP
"We’ve sat there taking a morals lecture from Bill Shorten in relation to Barnaby Joyce over the last few weeks," Dutton said in an interview with 2GB.
"People know that there’s a history of problems... to be lectured by the Labor party sticks in the craw," Mr Dutton claimed.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott had previously attributed Cash's comments to a "brain snap".
Additional reporting AAP
