Prime Minister Tony Abbott apologised for comparing Bill Shorten to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels. Abbott earlier apologised in February after using the term "holocaust” while describing the lack of jobs in Defence industries under the previous government.

Abbott called the Opposition Leader the "Dr Goebbels of economic policy" in federal parliament on Thursday. Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus and Labor MP Michael Danby, both Jewish, left the parliament. While Speaker Bronwyn Bishop asked Dreyfus to leave for rising from his seat angrily to criticise the Australian prime minister, Danby walked out with him in solidarity.

Abbott argued that he was not the only one to refer to Goebbels. There have been at least 11 lawmakers referred to the Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany before. He said that Goebbels, who served between 1933 and 1945, was referred by former treasurer Wayne Swan and former PM Paul Keating as well.

The Australian PM later apologised for the remark. He accepted that he had gone “too far” in the “heated debate.” “It shouldn't have been said,” Abbott told ABC Radio’s Jewish host Jon Faine on Friday. “I immediately withdrew it and apologised for it.” Abbott apologised for his "holocaust” remark in February. He later replaced the term with "decimation of jobs."

Irish PM Enda Kenny earlier criticised the Australian PM for a St. Patrick's Day video message broadcast online by the Liberal Party. Abbott flaunted a green tie and made fun of his regressive environmental policies. Abbott also infuriated the Irish community worldwide by saying in the video that “the English made the laws, the Scots made the money and the Irish made the songs.”

Danby later said that it was “beneath” the prime minister whose judgment he questioned. He believed that a lot of Abbott backbench would groan and tear their hair out. He added that there were no Nazis in Australia and nobody should make such “comparisons with the paradigm of the ultimate evil in politics to heighten political differences.”

Dreyfus said that it was inappropriate for the prime minister to make such a comparison. Interestingly, he described an Abbott political campaign in 2011 as “Goebbellian.”

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au

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