Former Northern Territory deputy chief minister Dave Tollner has been condemned by a former colleague for suggesting it's "quite OK to tell racist or sexist jokes".
Mr Tollner was forced to resign as NT treasurer in 2014 after making homophobic remarks to a gay staffer who was also the son of Country Liberal Party (CLP) colleague and current Opposition leader Gary Higgins.
"It's quite ok to tell racist or sexist jokes in the right company," Mr Tollner tweeted on Friday morning.
"It doesn't matter if it's totally fictional because some people can't take a joke and many more want to be offended. What sad and sorry lives they live."
Mr Tollner was reminded of the comments he made to Mr Higgins's son in 2014 by former NT Labor MLA and political analyst Ken Parish on Twitter.
"Didn't you suggest that calling @gary_mla's son a pillowbiter and shirtlifter was just a joke?" Mr Parish tweeted.
"Wasn't that just before you had to resign from cabinet? I guess they were the wrong company?"
Mr Tollner denied causing any offence at that time.
"I never called Josh Higgins anything," Mr Tollner replied.
"I made a joke to him about Mardi Gras, shirtlifters and pillowbiters. He wasn't upset about it, he laughed. Reporting unnamed sources, the media twisted it and blew it out of all proportion.
"It's called fake news."
'He's yesterday's man'
Mr Higgins said Mr Tollner's remarks were out of touch with society's expectations.
"I don't think anything along those lines is acceptable in today's environment," he said.
"I think all Dave is trying to do is rewrite history to clear his tarnished past.
"He's yesterday's man and I don't think too many people take notice of him ... and I'd encourage people to throw any comments he's got in the garbage bin where they deserve to go."
Mr Tollner has a long history of controversial comments while in office.
In 2014, he was forced to apologise for mimicking Aboriginal colleague Alison Anderson in parliament.
In 2013, he was expelled from cabinet for throwing a stack of documents at then-chief minister Terry Mills.
In 2015, he was named as a runner up for a Gold Ernie Award — which draws attention to sexist public comments.
Mr Tollner defended CLP colleague and former attorney-general John Elferink after he suggested he wanted to slap MLA Natasha Fyles in Parliament by saying he wouldn't have apologised and "I would have said 'toughen up princess'".
He was reinstated to the role of treasurer by then-chief minister Adam Giles in 2015 after an unsuccessful attempt by the party wing to remove Mr Giles as leader, despite Mr Giles condemning his comments.
Mr Tollner was granted the honorific of "Honourable" for life after leaving office in 2016.
The CLP refused to endorse him as a candidate for the 2016 NT election.
Mr Tollner declined to comment for this story.
