Former INXS star Kirk Pengilly 'misses slapping a woman on the butt'

Former INXS guitarist Kirk Pengilly says he prefers the old days when slapping a woman on the bum was seen as a compliment.

INXS musician Kirk Pengilly, a prostate cancer survivor, has his signature moustache shaved to prepare for the start of Movember, at Bondi Beach, Sydney Source: AAP

Amid sexual harassment claims levelled against Don Burke, former INXS guitarist Kirk Pengilly says he preferred the 1960s when you could slap a woman on the bum and it was taken as a compliment.

Pengilly, attending a Movember charity event in Melbourne on Thursday, said men were starting to feel they can't even pay a woman a compliment because it could be seen as sexual harassment.

"I really loved the 60s and 70s when life was so simple and you could slap a woman on the butt and it was taken as a compliment, not as sexual harassment," he told AAP when asked about the claims against Don Burke and Harvey Weinstein.