BOWMAN MP Andrew Laming has apologised for posting a meme depicting Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk as Nazi character Sergeant Schultz from the 1960s sitcom Hogan's Heroes.
It comes less than three weeks after Education Minister Grace Grace called for Mr Laming to be sacked over comments he made on social media urging parents to call the police on principals if their child was refused entry to school.
Mr Laming - chair of the federal committee on employment, education and training - later said that his comments were hyperbole, claiming it was a move to raise the stakes until the state opposition allowed children back into classrooms.
He said he did not create the Hogan's Heroes meme but apologised on his Facebook page for posting it after the public made a link to Ms Palaszczuk's grandfather, who spent seven years in a WWII Nazi labour camp.
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"The original post was referring to elements of the COVID recovery, the (Virgin Australia) airline purchase, the relaxations. It was based around that," Mr Laming said.
"The minute it was linked to World War II, there is absolutely no justification for not apologising, which we did.
"There was no intention to make any war references ... but I actually accepted that there was a link.
"Once that link was made, I had no alternative to apologise which I was very happy to do."
Capalaba MP Don Brown said he was disappointed that Mr Laming did not take the chance to apologise during an interview on Channel Nine, when Mr Laming said he would not back down.
"The premier and her grandparents' history in WWII has been well canvassed," he said. "Obviously when the media went to Andrew Laming ... for comment they would have highlighted to him that history and it was disappointing that he didn't take the opportunity to apologise at that point."
When asked about a potential reprimand, Mr Brown said Mr Laming was not taken seriously enough by his own party for him to be handed a punishment.
He said he had spoken to other Labor MPs who agreed that the post was in bad taste.
Mr Laming said his apology was published on his Facebook page and he was unaware of Ms Palaszczuk's family history when he posted the meme.
"I absolutely apologise, because with that link now obvious, it is completely unacceptable, and it wasn't the intention," Mr Laming said in a Facebook post.
It is not the first time Mr Laming has found himself in hot water over his social media posts.
In 2012, he was found to have liked a raft of anti-Tony Abbott, anti-Campbell Newman and pro carbon tax pages. He also found himself in strife during clashes between Logan Pacific Islander and Aboriginal communities in 2013, asking on his Twitter page "did any of them do a day's work today, or was it business as usual and welfare on tap?".
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