Australian prime minister Tony Abbott caused uproar in the country's parliament when he compared the Labour party leader to Joseph Goebbels, prompting a Jewish MP to walk out.

Labour frontbencher and leading member of Melbourne’s Jewish community Michael Danby walked out of prime minister’s questions when Mr Abbot likened Labour leader Bill Shorten to the Nazi propaganda minister.

It was the second time in a few weeks that Mr Abbott has attacked his political oppponents using a Nazi reference. Last month he angered the Jewish community when he said the Labour party was responsible for a “holocaust” of job losses in the defence sector.