AAP
Cabinet minister Craig Emerson has seized on reports Julie Bishop spoke to former AWU bagman Ralph Blewitt twice last week, demanding the deputy opposition leader resign or be sacked.
Ms Bishop on Tuesday said she coincidentally met Mr Blewitt in Melbourne on Friday for about 10 minutes and discussed the ongoing furore over Julia Gillard's work as a lawyer almost 20 years ago.
But Fairfax Media said the Liberal MP also spoke with the self-confessed fraudster by phone last Wednesday while she was in Perth.
"Yesterday ... Julie Bishop indicated quite clearly, as a result of a lot of questioning, that she had but one conversation with Mr Blewitt," Dr Emerson told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.
"If those media reports are correct, then Julie Bishop has out and out lied.
"She should therefore resign or be sacked."
Labor backbencher Steve Gibbons on Wednesday morning controversially tweeted: "Libs are led by a gutless douche bag and a narcissistic bimbo who aren't fit to be MPs let alone PM and Deputy. Both should be sacked."
He later apologised for using the term "bimbo" and replaced it with "fool".
Labor backbencher Yvette D'Ath said the deputy opposition leader had called on Ms Gillard to recall events from more than 17 years ago "when Julie Bishop herself can't even recall what she did last week".
"This is disgusting, it's been an appalling attack on the prime minister," she told reporters.
Fellow backbencher Amanda Rishworth was singing from the same song sheet on Wednesday.
"This is the day Julie Bishop has to resign," Ms Rishworth told reporters.
"Her credibility has been left in tatters. Julie Bishop has been lying to the Australian people."
But senior Liberal Christopher Pyne said the only person who might be forced to resign was Ms Gillard.
"The idea of Julie Bishop resigning is a hysterical response," he told reporters.
"Nobody will be resigning. The only person who might resign over this is the prime minister."
Mr Pyne said Ms Bishop was rightly trying to find out if the prime minister participated in a conspiracy to commit fraud and whether she might have benefited from any wrongdoing.
Ms Gillard has denied any involvement in the AWU association beyond giving advice that was so "low level" she didn't charge for it or open an in-house file at Slater & Gordon.
The prime minister insists she did not personally benefit and has labelled the opposition's attack a "smear campaign".
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