Sydney shock jock Alan Jones has apologised after again using the N-word on radio - but only after a public backlash.
Jones on Thursday was getting wound up about the Liberal leadership challenge in Canberra and his fear that Finance Minister Mathias Cormann wasn't helping Peter Dutton roll Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
"Anyone can stand ... but they are mobilising to block Dutton," the veteran broadcaster said.
"The n**** in the woodpile here, if one can use that expression - and I'm not going to yield to people who tell us that certain words in the language are forbidden - the person who's playing hard to get here is Mathias Cormann."
Jones apologised many hours later tweeting: "We all make mistakes. This morning ... I spoke about the covert actions of some political operatives in the current leadership challenges ... I used an old and offensive figure of speech that I regret saying."
The shock jock used the same phrase in 2013 when discussing Queensland's then-deputy premier and in 2012 when railing against Mr Turnbull's leadership aspirations.
Jones - who early in his career repeatedly failed to win a Liberal Party seat in parliament - used the expression on numerous other occasions on air dating back to at least 2007.
