Former Independent Member and anti-violence campaigner, Phil Cleary, believes the Prime Minister has two options - either demand a full apology from Immigration Minister Peter Dutton acknowledging the seriousness of his comments, or sack him.
Samantha Maiden, the political editor for News Corp, received a text from Mr Dutton labelling her a "mad f***ing witch", after she wrote a column critical of his colleague Jamie Briggs.
The SMS had been intended for Mr Briggs, who resigned after admitting to acting inappropriately towards a female diplomat while on an overseas trip.
Mr Dutton has since apologised to the journalist, who has accepted his apology.
Mr Cleary says Mr Dutton's comment is "worse than sexist" and betrays a view of women which is problematic.
“If you have a minister of the Crown using inflammatory language that demeans and ridicules women, we’ve got a serious problem," he told SBS News.
"It sends the message to men that women are the source of their problems and can dealt with harshly, either in words or physically."
Mr Cleary, who successfully campaigned to change provocation laws after his sister was killed by her ex-boyfriend, said Mr Dutton's comment suggested the "myth of provocation" still permeates Australian culture.
It comes as Liberal backbencher Sharman Stone members of her party over their handling of the incident, saying some of her male collegues still "don't get it" when it comes to respecting women.
"I think the interesting activities of the last number of weeks demonstrate that some of our male colleagues still don't get it in terms of treating all women with respect," Ms Stone told ABC radio.
"It is just an example of how we've still got a way to go, in all parties ... to ensure there is the greatest of respect paid in parliament as an example to the broader community."
Meanwhile, Labor insists Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull needs to investigate how a photo of the female diplomat who complained about Mr Briggs after a night in a Hong Kong bar was made public.
Mr Turnbull acknowledged on Monday night the publishing of the leaked picture could deter victims of sexual harassment from coming forward.
But acting Opposition Leader Penny Wong says his statement doesn't go far enough, demanding the prime minister investigate who received the photo and provided it to the media.
- with AAP
