Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has come under fire from disability advocates and the opposition after accusing his Labor opponent of using her disability as an excuse for not moving into his outer Brisbane seat.
Labor candidate Ali France, who had her leg amputated after she was hit by a car protecting her child in 2011, says she has been unable to find an accessible home in the seat of Dickson but would buy a house and modify it if she won.
But Mr Dutton says there are plenty of people living with a disability, and voters in his seat are angry that Ms France is using her disability as an "excuse" for not moving into the electorate.
A spokesperson for Mr Dutton said he was reflecting the views raised with him by his constituents.
"Dickson constituents believe Ms France's refusal to live in the electorate, even if she won the seat, is more about her enjoying the inner city lifestyle, as opposed to her inability to find a house anywhere in the electorate," the spokesperson told AAP.
Ms France hit back, telling reporters in Brisbane that having a disability is not an excuse but a reality.
"It is a reality that many hundreds of thousands of Australians have to deal with every single day and I am no exception to that," she said.
She works in Dickson, lives five minutes outside of the boundary of the seat and has spent the past year doorknocking the area.
Mr Shorten said it was only a week ago the government announced the disability royal commission and Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for a "culture of respect towards people with disability".
"Well, that didn't last very long, did it?" Mr Shorten told reporters in Sydney.
Mr Morrison did not believe Mr Dutton was using his opponent's disability as the basis of a political attack.
"I think those comments have been taken out of context," Mr Morrison told reporters in Sydney.
Deputy Labor Leader Tanya Plibersek was less forgiving, labelling the Home Affairs minister a "pea-heart".
Greens senator Jordan Steele-John, himself confined to a wheelchair, tweeted: "Ableism is not going to save you in Dickson ... Get in the bin."
Dougie Herd, chief executive of disability advocate Community Connections in Canberra, who has also been confined to a wheelchair for 35 years, was "completely appalled" by Mr Dutton's remarks.
"I simply cannot imagine what universe Peter Dutton thinks an amputee would use their disabling condition to get an advantage out of life," he told reporters on the lawns of Parliament House.
"It's bizarre, and it is offensive. Peter Dutton made a mistake. I think he should apologise. I think the prime minister should not simply back him up without thinking."
People with Disability Australia said there was a lack of understanding about the routine discrimination faced by people with a disability in securing accessible and appropriate housing.
