Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has spoken about his sex life, describing sex as one of life's great pleasures.
Mr Abbott says he eschews a "hair shirt" view of the good things in life. Although, he says, it's difficult for him to have sex sometimes.
"Let's face it, it's almost impossible to have when you are on the campaign trail," Mr Abbott told Launceston's The Examiner newspaper.
"And it is one of life's great pleasures," he added during an interview while visiting Tasmania on Thursday.
He said the inquiry about his sex life, linked to giving things up for Lent, was a very good question.
"When I was a schoolboy, my great Jesuit mentor, Father Costello, said that it was much better to do something positive in Lent than to give something up," he said.
"And he said that we shouldn't have a hair shirt mentality where we were against the good things of life - we should have a heroic mindset where we went out to try to make the most of life."
Mr Abbott's Jesuit teacher counselled against giving up things like "lollies or chocolates".
"He'd say: 'Try to go to Mass more often during Lent'," Mr Abbott said.
Mr Abbott caused a stir recently when asked about sex before marriage, in a personal interview with The Australian Women's Weekly, by saying he'd advise his daughters to abstain from sex until marriage and not give away their virginity too lightly.
The father of three qualified his comments by saying he was speaking as a parent and not issuing instructions to the world.
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