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Liberal Candidate David Kingston Apologises For 'Chauvinistic' Comments

'Donna got busy with some women's work -- washing clothes.'
LNP candidate for Lilley David Kingston
Facebook: David Kingston
LNP candidate for Lilley David Kingston

The man contesting former Treasurer Wayne Swan's Brisbane seat of Lilley, David Kingston, has apologised for "chauvinistic" comments he published on a travel blog, including calling washing and ironing "women's work".

The LNP candidate's comments were revealed by The Courier Mail on Tuesday -- the day after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull labelled himself a feminist.

Writing on website TravelPod during a trip around Australia, Kingston published musings about 'his' and 'hers' activities during his family's caravanning trip. This included his wife Donna cooking dinner while Kingston took responsibility for hooking up the caravan.

What the housewives of Australia need to understand as they do the ironing is that ... their own power bills when they switch the iron on are going to go up.

"Ever since I was little I can remember my Mum and Dad used to put up HIS and HERS towels in the bathroom ... from that I realised there were things designed for men and others designed for women," Kingston wrote on the blog.

"And I reasoned that the pattern would extend to some other things in life too (such as chores).

"Donna likes to call me chauvinistic from time to time but I see it differently."

Lines from the blog, which will attest to Donna's argument include:

  • "Donna got busy with some women's work -- washing clothes."
  • "What the housewives of Australia need to understand as they do the ironing is that ... their own power bills when they switch the iron on are going to go up."
  • "I got a bit of a shock when it was a woman who stepped out of the truck."

While Ashlee Martin, a woman identifying herself as Kingston's stepdaughter, said the LNP candidate for Lilley raised her in a gender-equal household, Kingston released a statement on Tuesday apologising for the online musings.

"I have enormous respect for my wife, and all women, as anyone who knows me well will attest," Kingston said in a statement.

"The comments posted on a travel blogsite were in the context of the teamwork between my wife and me during a caravanning holiday with our young family, as was made clear in the blog.

"Some of those comments were made tongue in cheek, however I understand they could be considered disrespectful and for that I sincerely apologise."

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