Hours after Ed Husic became Australia's first ever Muslim minister, he was flooded with online racial abuse for taking oath of office on the Quran. 43-year-old Husic, was appointed as parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and parliamentary secretary for broadband yesterday.

Husic, son of Bosnian migrants, was the first MP to be sworn in to federal parliament with his hand on the Quran. Husic told media today that he had made a "straightforward decision as someone of the Muslim faith" to take the oath on the Quran.

"I couldn't take my oath on a Bible and I didn't want to affirm. I am who I am and I just made a straightforward decision," he said. At the official oath-taking ceremony yesterday, Australia's Governor-General Quentin Bryce said, "it was a great day for multiculturalism and everything it stands for."

However, Husic's Facebook page was soon flooded with comments saying it was "disgusting" and "un-Australian" for him to use the Quran.