''Tim's gay,'' was the first rumour Sattler raised. 6PR host Howard Sattler interviewing Julia Gillard in the studio. Credit:Courtesy Channel Ten ''Well, that's absurd,'' the Prime Minister replied flatly. ''But you hear it - he must be gay, he's a hairdresser,'' Sattler said. ''It's not me saying it.'' Ms Gillard told reporters in Adelaide on Friday she was concerned such questioning could have a chilling effect on women and girls becoming public figures.

''I don't want to see a message like that sent to young girls,'' Ms Gillard said. Prime Minister Julia Gillard with her partner, Tim Mathieson. Credit:Getty Images ''I want young girls and women to be able to feel like they can be included in public life and not have to face questioning like the questioning I faced yesterday.'' The Prime Minister dismissed Sattler's suggestion on air but he pressed the point. ''You can confirm that he's not?'' he asked.

''Oh Howard don't be ridiculous, of course not,'' the Prime Minister said, while remaining cool and composed. ''On the internet there are lots of [. . .] nutjobs, people who peddle and circulate vile things. "Howard let me just bring you back to earth, you and I have just talked about me and Tim living at the lodge, we live there together as a couple, you know that.'' The interview comes towards the end of a week in which the Prime Minister has been subject to personal attacks, and gone on the offensive about sexism in politics. In the latest development, the president of the Cessnock Hunter Young Liberals branch was suspended from the party after saying on social media that the Socceroos coach's comment that ''women should shut up in public'' should apply to the Prime Minister. Ms Gillard's comments on Friday followed those of Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick who said many women faced similar demeaning and sexist questioning.

''The fact is that from the PM down, so many women in public office, whatever side of politics they come from or women at senior business level, I think there is - there is still a significant demeaning attitude, sexist questions, invasive questioning,'' she told ABC television. ''It's got to stop because we want women in public office.'' Former prime minister Kevin Rudd expressed his outrage at the question while on the campaign trail in western Sydney. "That's just appalling," Mr Rudd said. "Sattler should hang his head in total shame." Another shock jock, Sydney's Ray Hadley said on Friday that he would never pursue such a line of questioning.

''Of all the things ... I could ask her, that would be the last thing I would choose to ask the prime minister,'' Hadley told ABC radio on Friday. ''The sexuality of anyone, be it her partner or anyone else is no one's business.'' Hadley agreed that Ms Gillard has been the target of repeated venomous attacks in the media. ''In the 30 years I've been doing these type of programs I don't think there has been any prime minister . . . who has been subject to the sort of attacks,'' he said. Another former radio talkbalk host, Derryn Hinch, said he cringed when he heard the interview.

''This is just low-life stuff and Howard is being a coward on this,'' the now Channel Seven commentator said on Friday. ''I thought the prime minister showed a lot of class, a lot of style,'' Hinch said. ''She should have leaned across the desk and slapped his face.'' Sattler had previously asked the Prime Minister why she was not married. She replied: ''I think that you can have a relationship that is committed and full of love and full of significance in your life without being married.''

Mr Sattler has been suspended from broadcasting on 6PR on Thursday night, pending an internal inquiry. On Friday afternoon, general manager of 6PR, Martin Boylen, confirmed that the station had sacked Sattler. Sattler is a 25-year broadcast veteran known for his polarising style. He recently disclosed that he had been battling Parkinson's disease since being diagnosed in June last year. Loading

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