Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he meant no offence when he said he had survived walking the Kokoda Track.
Mr Rudd made the comments on Monday during a visit to Papua New Guinea.
He upset some diggers, who are quoted by News Australia as saying it was a "stupid thing to say" and a "cheap stunt" as hundreds of Australian soldiers died there during World War II.
However, Mr Rudd says he was clearly referring to walking the gruelling trek.
"In my speech I said that 3000 Australians walked the Kokoda Track every year and that I had done the same and survived. That is actually what I meant," he said on Tuesday.
"If people have taken that a different way then of course I'm sorry about any misinterpretation."
Mr Rudd walked the track in 2006 with now shadow treasurer Joe Hockey and television host David Koch.
