Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has apologised for comments he made about Labor opponent Ali France, in which he accused her of using her disability as an excuse for not moving into his Brisbane seat of Dickson.
"I apologise to Ms France for my comments yesterday," Mr Dutton tweeted on Saturday afternoon.
"My argument with the Labor candidate is about how our respective policies would affect the people of Dickson."
His apology came after disability advocates condemned the comments as "bizarre" and "offensive".
Prior to the apology Bill Shorten told reporters on the NSW Central Coast he was "shocked" that Scott Morrison hadn't asked Mr Dutton to say sorry.
He accused the prime minister of being a "hostage of Peter Dutton" for not requesting an apology.
At the same press conference Labor senator Kristina Keneally called Mr Dutton "a thug" and "the most toxic man in the Liberal party".
Mr Morrison on Friday said Mr Dutton's comments had been taken out of context.
Ms France, who had her leg amputated after she was hit by a car protecting her child in 2011, said she had 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 had said there were plenty of people living with a disability, and voters in his seat were angry that Ms France was using her disability as an "excuse" for not moving into the electorate.
