AN ABC staff member has applauded the alleged assault on former Prime Minister Tony Abbott by a same-sex activist.

An email from an ABC technical operator to the ABC news division said it was “good” that Mr Abbott had been headbutted, in a move the Warringah MP said was a symptom of an “ugly and partisan mindset” at the public broadcaster.

The email was responding to a breaking-news alert from ABC News 24’s producer and presenter Jason Om that Mr Abbott had been attacked in Hobart.

Om’s email was titled “Abbott headbutted” and read: “Tony Abbott has told 2GB he was subjected to a “Liverpool kiss” in Hobart by a man who supported same sex marriage.”

The email alert went out at 8.12pm, after Mr Abbott was allegedly headbutted by a man wearing a YES campaign badge who had asked to shake his hand.

Less than a minute later, the reply all from a staff member responded: “Good.”

media_camera The email exchange in the ABC newsroom.

Mr Abbott told The Daily Telegraph staff members at the ABC should not be welcoming violence.

“It’s a symptom of an ugly mindset, an ugly and partisan mindset which should have no place in ‘our’ ABC,” he said.

“It’s not ‘our’ ABC if some of its staff are oblivious to violence against people they don’t like. It’s pretty hard for the ‘love is love’ brigade to be taken seriously when there’s not much love shown to people who don’t agree with them.”

media_camera Tony Abbott speaks to media on Hobart's waterfront this morning. Picture: Luke Bowden

Asked if the employee should be sacked for his conduct, Mr Abbott said while he wouldn’t like to see anyone lose their job, professional standards were essential at the taxpayer-funded public broadcaster.

“Put it this way, I don’t want people being sacked because of their political beliefs but I also think it’s important for professional standards to be maintained,” he said.

“How can someone at the ABC be maintaining professional standards and professional objectivity if their instinctive emotional response to news of an assault on a politician they don’t agree with is to say ‘good’?”

ABC management had sent out a directive in August calling for “impartial” coverage of the debate over marriage equality to avoid offending audiences.

The email asked ABC employees not to advocate for one side or the other either in coverage or on social media.

“The more high-profile you are the more important discretion is,” the email stated.

The ABC did not apologise for the email but called it a “one-word lapse in judgment.”

“The email was unacceptable and the staff member in question, who is a technical operator and not a journalist, has been counselled,” an ABC spokeswoman said.

“It was a one-word lapse in judgment by one person rather than a general reflection of the entire ABC.”

The employee has not yet responded to The Daily Telegraph’s request for comment.