Prime Minister Scott Morrison has questioned the authenticity of racist comments allegedly left online by the Liberal candidate for the seat of Lyons.
Jessica Whelan has denied making derogatory comments about Muslims, including one that said women who support Islam should be mutilated and sold as slaves.
Mr Morrison says the imagery he has seen of the comments appears to be doctored.
[Prime Minister Scott Morrison:"This matter has been referred to the Australian Federal Police. And so that is a matter that is being referred, I should say, to the Australian Federal Police. And this is a matter that will be subject to an investigation."]
But Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek says Mr Morrison should disendorse Ms Whelan over the posts.
[Labor Deputy Leader Tanya Plibersek: "What really confuses me is you've got a Prime Minister who is prepared to take action when it's the candidate for Isaacs, but not prepared to take action on the candidate for Lyons. Racism is racism is racism, and when you've got two candidates saying things, it's vital the Prime Minister shows some leadership ."]
Meanwhile, Labor has defended its candidate for the federal seat of Melbourne over inappropriate content he shared online.
Luke Creasey apologised yesterday [[1 May]] for posting a rape joke and pornography on Facebook in 2012.
New inappropriate posts from Mr Creasey have since been uncovered by the Herald Sun newspaper.
Labor's digital economy spokesman Ed Husic has told the A-B-C Mr Creasey's case differs from others.
[Labor MP Ed Husic: “In his instance he stepped forward and he's accepted responsibility, and apologised. In another instance, we've had someone say that their account has been hacked and we need to get to the bottom of that quick smart. There have been other instances where posts have been made where you've - we've seen over the last 24 hours where people have been also held accountable."]
