Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey has repeated a mock claim that he should have let Kevin Rudd drown during their 2006 trip to the Kokoda track.
Speaking on Wednesday morning, Mr Hockey said he shouldn't have come to Mr Rudd's aid when the pair walked the famous track together seven years ago.
"I should have let him drown, that's right, I should have let him," Mr Hockey quipped to Macquarie Radio's Alan Jones.
Legend has it Mr Hockey "saved" Mr Rudd's life after the then opposition foreign affairs spokesman slipped while crossing a stream during the trek.
Mr Hockey made a similar comment to a Liberal party rally in Melbourne in June, saying "he should have drowned him (Mr Rudd) when he had a chance".
Mr Hockey said that after completing the walk, he should have boasted of "surviving" Mr Rudd.
"I should have worn a t-shirt saying I survived Kevin Rudd for eight days on the Kokoda trail," Mr Hockey said.
"That's effectively what it was."
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Rudd was forced to backtrack for saying he had "survived" walking the Kokoda Track.
He upset some diggers for using the term about the trail where hundreds of Australian soldiers died during World War II.
Mr Rudd said he meant no offence when he used the term and was clearly referring to walking the gruelling trail.
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