Government backbencher George Christensen says he has received a death threat following comments he made about the federal budget and has accused Opposition Leader Bill Shorten of "fanning this violence".
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Labor has called on the Prime Minister to immediately force the Liberal National MP to apologise for the "offensive" comments and said threats of violence were never acceptable.
Mr Christensen says he has referred the threat to the Australian Federal Police.
Mr Christensen, the LNP member for Dawson, stirred up anger on social media on Thursday when he tweeted that Australians complaining about the federal budget should get some perspective and do a "tour of Asia and live like locals".
The tweet, coupled with an image of an impoverished child from Cambodia, prompted an immediate backlash from Twitter users.
Australia is on the verge of signing a memorandum of understanding with the South-East Asian nation to send refugees to resettle there from Nauru.
Mr Christensen's comments about Asia stand alongside a budget that rips $7.8 billion from foreign aid over five years.
On Friday morning, Mr Christensen tweeted that he had received a death threat.
“I received a death threat in relation to my comments re budget. This is where public discourse has sunk. Shorten is fanning this violence,” he wrote.
Mr Christensen did not return calls from Fairfax Media, but told AAP that he was surprised his comments attracted a death threat serious enough to report to police.
The anonymous email warns Mr Christensen that MPs in Asian countries are assassinated and is accompanied by a photo of a man whose head has been blown off.
"Just remember arsewipe, those Asian countries also have a high number of MP (sic) that are assassinated. Aussies have GUNS.. Just remember that!," the email said. "You have just become a MARK!"
"It's probably the most confronting email I've ever received,’’ the member for Dawson said.
"You receive nasty emails [as an MP] ... I have a thick enough skin for that but I don’t have a thick enough skin to stop a bullet from going through my head."
Mr Christensen also claimed anger about the budget was unwarranted, and debate about it needed to be brought down to a "sensible level".
"I think everyone needs to take a deep breath and calm down about it," he said.
A spokesman for Mr Shorten said the suggestion that the Opposition Leader was somehow responsible was "a disgusting new low for the Liberal Party".
"If the Prime Minister has any sense, he'd instruct George Christensen to apologise for this offensive and irresponsible statement," he said.
"There is a right way and a wrong way to protest this unfair budget – making threats like this is never acceptable."
Earlier this week Mr Shorten criticised student protesters who mobbed Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop and former Liberals MP Sophie Mirabella at separate events at Australian universities.
Mr Christensen is not the first MP to receive death threats, with crossbenchers Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott receiving threats while they supported the Gillard minority government.
The chief executive of the St Vincent de Paul Society, John Falzon, criticised the MP’s comments on Thursday and said the public response reflected a deep feeling of injustice over a budget that "hurts and humiliates" those doing it toughest.
with AAP
