The federal Health Minister, Tony Abbott, has reignited factional warfare in the Liberal Party with the revelation that he made offensive remarks mocking John Brogden only hours after the former state Opposition leader's apparent suicide attempt.
Liberal MPs condemned Mr Abbott yesterday, while the NSW Opposition Leader, Peter Debnam, branded his comments "stupid and insensitive" and refused to be drawn on whether he should resign.
Mr Abbott said he "never claimed to be the world's most sensitive person" when confronted with claims that he began an address to a Kenthurst party meeting last Wednesday by saying: "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."
Earlier that day, when asked about a health proposal at a Liberal Party fund-raiser, Mr Abbott had said: "If we did that, we would be as dead as the former Liberal leader's political prospects."
Twelve hours earlier, Mr Brogden had been rushed to hospital with self-inflicted wounds, having resigned in disgrace at the news that he pinched a female journalist's bottom, propositioned another and referred to Bob Carr's wife as a mail-order bride.
Mr Abbott did not deny making his remarks when questioned by Barrie Cassidy on the ABC's Insiders program yesterday.
When contacted by the Herald, Mr Abbott refused to confirm or deny that the Prime Minister had reprimanded him.
"I don't comment on when I speak to the PM ... I think the PM sometimes likes me and sometimes he likes me more and sometimes he likes me less."
Mr Abbott added: "I said on the program this morning, if anyone is upset, I'm happy to apologise."
Asked why his apology could not be unconditional, Mr Abbott said: "If you'd prefer it that way I'm happy to apologise."
But this was not enough for some moderate Liberal MPs, who saw the outburst as further proof that the right of the party was behind moves to undermine Mr Brogden and the leadership contender Barry O'Farrell last week.
"The Liberal Party will not appreciate that kind of gloating and endorsing the extremists' tactics used to bring John Brogden down," said the NSW Opposition's juvenile justice spokeswoman, Catherine Cusack.
The deputy leader of the Liberal Party in the Legislative Council, John Ryan, said: "I'm sickened, saddened and disgusted ...
If we can't be seen to care for each other, in a time of need, the public will hardly believe that we care about them."
The former Victorian Liberal premier Jeff Kennett, who chairs the national anti-depression initiative beyondblue, said the comments were "at best insensitive, and doubly so because they come from the senior politician charged with ... issues relating to mental health and depression".
Mr Debnam, who met the Prime Minister yesterday morning at Kirribilli House for more than an hour, said of his factional ally, Mr Abbott: "I can't believe you'd make such stupid and insensitive remarks but I understand he's apologised."
The Labor leader, Kim Beazley, said Mr Abbott should consider resigning, but the Health Minister told the Herald: "From time to time all of us say things that are more or less crass and in the great scheme of my mind ... I think my comments ... are fairly low on the Richter scale. If I was resigning every time I upset someone, I would have lasted about a week."
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.