NSW Liberal senator Bill Heffernan has been accused of an anti-gay attack on another party staffer at a branch meeting in early May.

Senior Liberal Ray Carter filed a statutory declaration with police alleging Heffernan struck him and knocked him off balance. Heffernan approached him shortly afterwards, Carter stated, and told him, "I didn't know you were a poofter."

Three witnesses backed up the allegations. Heffernan has been accused of homophobic behaviour several times during his 16-year career representing New South Wales.

In 2002 Prime Minister John Howard forced Heffernan to apologise to openly gay High Court judge Michael Kirby, after accusing him of using a government-funded car to pick up an underage male prostitute and producing forged documents to prove the judge's trip.

In 2009 Heffernan was reported as saying to a gay rights protester in Parliament House that homosexuality is linked to paedophilia. Heffernan later claimed he was misquoted.

ALP politicians have called on Liberal leader Tony Abbott to dump Heffernan from the party.