Opposition Leader and aspiring Prime Minister Tony Abbott is once again on the receiving end of social media flak as he highlighted Liberal candidate Fiona Scott's "sex appeal" as he spoke about her credentials for the upcoming election on September 7.

The Coalition's Tony Abbott was campaigning for the seat of Lindsay in Western Sydney when he was asked for his opinion on what Fiona Scott had in common with Jackie Kelly who was the last Liberal MP.

Mr. Abbott said both women are "young and feisty" and had a bit of "sex appeal". He also said Fiona Scott and Jackie Kelly had good connections with the local area.

When Mr. Abbott made the "sex appeal" comment, he was standing between his daughter and Ms. Scott who were seen laughing at the statement.

Ms. Kelly said she was close to 50 years old and was busy organising art shows in her 2 children's schools. She said she doesn't have "much sex appeal" in what she's doing.

Tony Abbott dismissed the criticism he received for his sex appeal comment and told reporters he was just being "exuberant" when he talked about Fiona Scott who was running for the post of Assistant Treasurer.

Mr. Abbott said, Ms. Scott is his friend and he was being exuberant. He believed Ms. Scott is hard working and he was proud to be associated with the Liberal MP candidate.

Meanwhile, despite the Tony Abbott's exuberance with his sex appeal comment, it doesn't sit well with the Labor government. Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard attacked the Opposition Leader for his behaviour and called him a misogynist in a speech with the Federal Parliament as her audience.

Australian Labor supporter Kim Carr said Tony Abbott was pathetic because he was stuck in the past. Mr. Carr said the Opposition Leader was stuck in the 1950s.

Andrew Robb, the finance spokesperson for the Coalition, said the people should not be sensitive about Mr. Abbott's sex appeal comment. Mr. Robb said Mr. Abbott jokingly made the remark so no offence should be taken.

Mr. Robb said Mr. Abbott has a strong and highly competent wife, three daughters and sisters with one of whom is a lesbian. He said Mr. Abbott was just like any other average person on these matters and no one should feel strongly about the issue.

This was not the first time Tony Abbott was criticised for his public remarks as just a day earlier, he was in the international media spotlight when he said "no one is the suppository of all wisdom" in a verbal attack directed towards Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

Twitter hashtags #suppository and #sexappeal were trending in the popular social networking site.

RELATED STORIES