Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is standing by Liberal candidate Mal Brough, despite calls for the former Howard minister to be disendorsed after his fund-raiser used a menu that made lewd jokes about the Prime Minister's anatomy.
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Julia Gillard has slammed the menu for a dinner in March as ''grossly sexist and offensive'' and criticised Mr Abbott for sticking with Mr Brough.
The menu lists ''Julia Gillard Kentucky Fried Quail'' before describing it as ''Small breasts, huge thighs & a big red box''.
''Mr Brough should be disendorsed. That's what should happen here,'' Ms Gillard said.
Health Minister Tanya Plibersek joined Ms Gillard's call, saying Mr Brough's position as the candidate for the Queensland seat of Fisher was ''untenable''.
This is not the first time there have been questions over Mr Brough's candidacy in Fisher, now held by Peter Slipper. In December Labor called for Mr Brough to be disendorsed after a damning Federal Court judgment found he was involved in actions to discredit the former speaker.
Mr Abbott condemned the menu on Wednesday, but said Mr Brough's preselection would not be affected. A spokesman for the Liberal National Party also said there were no plans to disendorse Mr Brough.
The revelation of the menu came as Ms Gillard faced criticism from the opposition and some Labor backbenchers for a speech in which she said women's voices would be ''banished'' under an Abbott government and abortion would become a ''political plaything''.
Despite the convenient timing of the menu's appearance, Ms Gillard said she and her office found out about it via Twitter on Wednesday.
The menu was circulated on social media after it was posted by Brisbane man ''Dave'' @chef09876 on Tuesday night.
Dave, who said he was not a member of any political party, said he had first seen the photo on a former colleague's Facebook page. At the time of the function, he had sent a Facebook message to the Prime Minister about it, but did not get a response.
He explained he re-tweeted the menu in light of a Joe Hockey tweet about Ms Gillard's comments on abortion. The shadow treasurer attended the Brough fund-raiser, but does not recall the menu, which he described as ''wrong''.
The event, which the LNP said occurred at a Brisbane restaurant on March 27, was organised by Mr Brough and attended by about 20 people.
The ABC reported Mr Brough had apologised for the menu, saying it was not written by an LNP member and he did not recall seeing it.
This did not satisfy fellow-Queenslander Kevin Rudd, who argued Mr Brough was not an ''inexperienced bozo'' who had never run for political office.
Mr Rudd said Mr Brough should donate ''every dollar that he's raised to the RSPCA''.
