Prime Minister Julia Gillard insists the coalition still has questions to answer over an insulting menu produced by the host of a Brisbane fundraising dinner.
But Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says it is time to move on from the issue and the coalition is in the clear.
"This was a bad taste menu that never made it out of the kitchen," Mr Abbott said on Thursday.
"It wasn't seen by anyone at the event."
Ms Gillard isn't convinced by the explanation of the owner of the Richards and Richards restaurant which hosted the fundraiser for Liberal National Party candidate Mal Brough in March.
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Restaurant owner Joe Richards on Wednesday said the menu had not been distributed at the function and was a "light-hearted joke" shared with his son.
Mr Brough explained he had apologised for the menu on Wednesday because he had been given the wrong impression it had been distributed at the fundraiser.
"I never saw any menu," he said on Thursday. "There could well have been something there that I hadn't seen.
There was 15 to 20 people in a room, and you get confronted with a document that is real and are told that it's happened, only to find out that it hasn't happened."
Ms Gillard, who called for Mr Brough to be disendorsed on Wednesday, said his explanation did not stack up. "Mr Brough has got a lot of explaining to do," she said.
David Carter, a former chef at the restaurant who sent out the menu on Twitter this week, said he had no specific evidence the menu was shown to guests at the LNP fundraiser.
Mr Carter had left the restaurant six months before the dinner and was not there on the night. He said Mr Richards - a well-known business figure in Brisbane who has connections with politicians from both major parties - had a history of writing joke menus for fundraisers.
"He's always been very quick to be the first one to point it out to everyone and hand it around," Mr Carter told Sky News.
Debate raged on Wednesday about the menu, associated with a fundraiser for Liberal National Party candidate Mal Brough, that described a dish as: "Julia Gillard Kentucky Fried Quail - Small Breasts, Huge Thighs & A Big Red (word deleted) ...".
Mr Brough and Mr Abbott both condemned the menu, as did the LNP.
