Senator Michaelia Cash has called on Prime Minister Julia Gillard to discipline one of her backbenchers after Victorian Labor MP Steve Gibbons called deputy opposition leader Julie Bishop a “bimbo” on Twitter.
This morning Gibbons tweeted: “Libs are led by a gutless douchebag and narcissistic bimbo who aren’t fit to be MP’s let alone PM and Deputy. Both should be sacked.”
He later followed up with a tweet apologising for using the word “bimbo”, replacing it with “fool”.
Senator Cash, the opposition’s parliamentary spokesperson for women, has since called on Gillard to take a stand against sexism and suspend Gibbons as Deputy Chair of the regional Australia parliamentary committee.
“Mr Gibbons, on any analysis, has made a completely inappropriate statement, he’s made a sexist and inappropriate statement. This is now a test for the PM to see if she meant what she said,” Senator Cash said.
“She has made this the issue when she put fairly and squarely on the record she was going to call out sexism and misogyny wherever she sees it, she also says people in public life should be held to account.”
The PM’s office told News Limited journalists that Gibbons has “unreservedly” apologised for the tweet.