Frontbencher Barnaby Joyce has described Jacqui Lambie's comments about China as something that might sound funny after 15 beers in the pub but says they shouldn't be coming from a senator.
A day after Clive Palmer stoked controversy by describing the Chinese as "bastards" and "mongrels" who shoot their own people, his party's senator for Tasmania said she supported her leader's comments about "China's military capacity and threat to Australia".
"If anybody thinks that we should have a national security and defence policy which ignores the threat of a Chinese communist invasion - you're delusional and got rocks in your head," Senator Lambie in a statement on Tuesday.
On Wednesday Senator Joyce said Senator Lambie had to watch her words.
"You are a senator of Tasmania," the agriculture minister told the Nine Network.
"No longer can you talk like you might at half-past seven at the corner pub.
"These things sound amusing when they're said after 15 beers, but they're very, very dangerous if you want to say them on national television."
Senator Joyce said the country's economic future relied on a strong relationships with China and Australia shouldn't be insulting its Asian trade partner.
He said he was heading to China in September to meet his Chinese counterparts for APEC trade discussions, where he would negotiate for more Australian products to be exported.
"Think about those things before you say it, Jacqui," he said.
Senator Lambie's comments came after Mr Palmer launched his attack on China during the ABC's Q&A program on Monday night.
"We should be looking into using missiles if another nation attacks us," Senator Lambie told Macquarie Radio on Tuesday.
"We need to stop our grandchildren from becoming slaves to an anti-democratic power.
"We should be worried about any invasion, not just from communist China, and right now I am concerned about our national security."
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