Federal Health Minister Peter Dutton has come to the defence of parliamentary colleague Fiona Nash as the Australian Greens join calls for the Nationals senator's scalp.
Labor and the Greens want the assistant health minister to relinquish her portfolio over questions of her office's involvement in the removal of a food-rating website, which has already cost the job of her chief of staff, Alastair Furnival.
Senator Nash has admitted Mr Furnival was a shareholder in lobbying firm Australian Public Affairs, which represented junk-food industry clients opposed to the site.
Greens Senator Richard Di Natale accused Senator Nash of being dishonest with the Australian public and breaching the ministerial code of conduct.
He said the website's removal raised questions about Senator Nash's priorities on major health issues.
"We've got a minister who's clearly been compromised because of the relationship her chief of staff has had doing the bidding of those in industry ahead of protecting ordinary people," Senator Di Natale told reporters in Canberra.
But Mr Dutton said Senator Nash was an effective minister and "a very decent person".
"It goes to credibility and the credibility that I place in this debate is with Senator Nash, and I think she has done the right thing," Mr Dutton told the ABC.
He said he knew of Mr Furnival's work history, "as everybody else did".
"The appropriate declarations were made and signed, and Mr Furnival has now moved on," Mr Dutton said.
Labor and the Greens are set to renew their attack on Senator Nash in parliament next week.
