A Liberal backbencher has labelled "disgusting" comments made by Health Minister Tony Abbott about John Brogden, who is recovering from an apparent suicide attempt.
George Brandis, a Liberal senator for Queensland, said he would not have made such remarks in relation to the former NSW Opposition leader.
"No, I think it was a disgusting thing to do," Senator Brandis told reporters in Canberra today.
Mr Abbott has apologised for comments he made at two functions about the circumstances that led to Mr Brogden's apparent attempt on his own life and the state of his political career.
The minister has attracted a storm of criticism about the insensitivity of the comments, particularly because he is the minister responsible for mental health issues.
Mr Abbott reportedly told a party function in relation to the possible introduction of a new health measure: "If we did that we would be as dead as the former Liberal leader's political prospects."
The following day, he said in a speech to Sydney's Kenthurst Liberal Party Branch: "I just want to make it clear I have never told an inappropriate joke, I've never pinched a woman on the backside and I never make inappropriate gestures to women."
His jokes followed Mr Brogden's resignation as Opposition leader and subsequent apparent suicide attempt last week.
But Democrats senator Andrew Bartlett said that, although the comments were insensitive and in bad taste, the focus should be on the Federal Government's lack of action on mental health issues.
"What says more about this Government's attitude to mental health is their lack of action," he told reporters.
"Focusing just on one-off comments by people taken out of the context of when they are made and trying to make them the issue, rather than the policy failures that are actually directly affecting millions of peoples lives, is the problem.
"It actually distracts from the real issue."
People would make up their own minds about Mr Abbott's comments, he said.
But Australian Greens senator Bob Brown said Mr Abbott's "jokey-blokey" response to a life-threatening problem demonstrated a significant lack of sensitivity.
"The jokey-blokey response that he's got to a very serious problem that exists in our community, and that needs to be handled with a bit of commonsense and insight, is not good enough for a minister," Senator Brown said.
"The Health Minister's got to do a lot better than that.
"He's in charge ... of the psychiatric health of the country, as well as the physical health of the country, and the attitude he's displaying there will simply distress many people."
Senator Brown said people should not joke about life-threatening conditions and Mr Abbott's actions threw into question the appropriateness of his position as Health Minister.
"You don't joke about people who ... are in a life-threatening condition. You just don't joke about people who have been to the brink of death," he said.
"He proclaims that he's an insensitive person and in health you need a sensitive person as minister.
"So he proclaims himself that he doesn't really have a key qualification for the position of Minister for Health.
"And that's something the Prime Minister's got to consider because it's not the first time and it won't be the last that we see that insensitivity coming from this minister."
AAP
Australia's Federal Minister for Health, Tony Abbott, has made a number of comments about the previous New South Wales Australian Liberal Party leader, John Brogden, who recently attempted suicide, which have been widely thought to be inappropriate.

Abbott is reported to have made comments such as "If we did that, we would be as dead as the former Liberal leader's political prospects" and "Whenever you hear that David Clarke is doing bad things, you know he is really doing a great job", referring to the factional leader claimed to have led the campaign against Brogden. The comments were made at a party function approximately twelve hours after Brogden's suicide attempt. Abbott is also reported to have said "I just want to make it clear I have never told an inappropriate joke, I've never pinched a woman on the backside and I never make inappropriate gestures to women" at a Kenthurst Liberal Party branch meeting, in reference to Brogden's reported behaviour at a function approximately two months ago.

There have been calls for Abbott to resign or be sacked by Prime Minister John Howard from some sectors, such as persons involved in mental health care, as well as the Federal Opposition. They claim that the comments show that Abbott is not mindful of mental health issues when they should be foremost in his mind.

The comments were first raised with Abbott by the ABC ''Insiders'' program yesterday. He confirmed that he had made the remarks and offered to apologize "if anyone is upset", and later that day made such an apology. The extent of the apology was criticised in the House of Representatives in Federal Parliament that day, with Julia Gillard, the Shadow Health Minister, calling it "half-arsed" during debate on a motion to censure the minister for his comments. The motion was rejected as the Liberal/National coalition form Government federally.

There is suspicion that the tipoff about Abbott's comments was made by a member of the left-wing faction of the Liberal party, of which Brogden was a member, as a form of payback against members of the right-wing faction, of which Tony Abbott is a member. The Liberal right are said to have been involved in the campaign against Brogden.