Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has lashed Victoria's Liberal party over its division about expelling a controversial MP.
"The Victorian Liberal Party here are a shambles, we've seen them fighting each other," he told reporters in Melbourne on Friday.
His comment follows a bid by the state's Liberal leader John Pesutto to eject MP Moira Deeming from the party after she appeared at an anti-transgender rally in Melbourne on Saturday.
The heated event made headlines nationwide after neo-Nazis lined up and made a salute outside parliament.
Ms Deeming was present but has denied any Nazi alignment and denounced the salute.
Mr Pesutto accuses her of "conducting activities in a manner likely to bring discredit" to the party over her association with rally figures with alleged links to extremists.
He presented a 15-page dossier of supportive "evidence" detailing Ms Deeming's involvement in the rally.
Ms Deeming has since denounced Nazism and denied any ties to far-right groups but refuses to condemn British anti-trans activist Kellie-Jay Keen, who headlined the event.
A Victorian Liberal party caucus meeting on Monday is due to vote on a motion to expel Ms Deeming.
Mr Albanese was in Melbourne campaigning alongside Labor's candidate for the federal by-election in Aston on April 1.
A push to ban Nazi symbols has reached federal parliament following Saturday's rally, with emotions running high in the Senate on Friday.
As debate continued in Canberra's upper house, Liberal Victorian senator Sarah Henderson started crying over mention of text messages she sent Mr Pesutto in support of Ms Deeming.
Labor senator Murray Watt later withdrew his remarks about the text messages, which Senator Henderson described as "offensive".
"He said words that I will not repeat and that no other person should repeat. They were abhorrent and offensive," she said in parliament.
"The precise words uttered by Senator Watt will be seared into my memory for a very long time. Any attempt to distort and re-characterise his interjection only compounds the damage.
"The only words Senator Watt should be saying are, 'I unconditionally apologise'."
