OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott left many cringing last week when he told young netballers about how "a bit of body contact never hurt anyone" as he entered their huddle to pose for a photograph.

Mr Abbott's off-colour joke comes weeks after he told reporters that the Liberal candidate for Lindsay, Fiona Scott, had "a bit of sex appeal" when he was asked to list her key attributes. Before that, Mr Abbott told a room full of party faithful that no one can be "the suppository of all wisdom". But the Opposition Leader is of course not the first Australian politician to suffer from foot-in-mouth disease. Here are some other notable gaffes that politicians wish we'd forget. 1. Malcolm Fraser, 1982 During a 12-month freeze on wages in 1982, then-prime minister Malcolm Fraser told workers "life wasn't meant to be easy". The line originally came from a George Bernard Shaw play Methuselah - "life wasn't meant to be easy, my child; but take courage, it can be delightful." His political opponents seized on it as an example of how a man born to wealth and privilege failed to understand the concerns of everyday Australians. 2. Jeff Kennett, 1985 While he has always hotly denied it, in 1985 Jeff Kennett, as leader of the Opposition in Victoria, made a memorable offer to beauty pageant contestants at an Italian community function. After presenting the winner with her prize, he reportedly said "the other 27 can come round the back and I'll give something to you all." This was before he won the 1992 election and became Victorian premier, a post he retained until 1999. 3. Bob Hawke, 1989 Former prime minister Bob Hawke was forced to apologise after labelling a heckler on the campaign trail in Whyalla in South Australia a "silly old bugger". The 74-year-old pensioner yelled at him that "you get more a week than I do in a year". "I don't know what you are talking about, you silly old bugger," Mr Hawke replied. While he later apologised, the opposition claimed he tried to prevent an ABC crew from using footage of the incident. 4. Bob Katter, 1989 Maverick independent MP Bob Katter made headlines in 1989 for famously promising to "walk to Bourke backwards if the poof population of North Queensland is any more than 0.001 per cent." Though his half-brother has since come out as gay, Mr Katter continues to insist gay marriage isn't an issue that concerns voters in his electorate. 5. Alexander Downer, September 1994 As opposition leader in 1994, Alexander Downer stunned the party faithful into silence when he told them at a dinner that the party's slogan- The Things That Matter- should be changed to "the things that batter," to reflect their domestic violence policy. Downer did lose the leadership, but in 1996 he was appointed foreign affairs minister by John Howard, a post he held until 2007. 6. Paul Keating, 1995 Paul Keating is often remembered for warning in 1986 that the economy was in danger of turning the nation into "banana republic" and for saying in 1990 "this is the recession we had to have". Yet in 1995 he also jokingly told student protesters to "get a job- do some work, like the rest of us." One of the protesters, Tamy Franks, did get a job, in politics, and in 2010 she was elected as the Greens representative for the South Australian Legislative Council. 7. Pauline Hanson, 1996 The One Nation leader was famously asked by 60 Minutes reporter Tracy Curro if she was xenophobic, to which she responded "please explain". In 1998 she lost her seat and later appeared on reality show Dancing With The Stars. She is currently a candidate for One Nation in the Senate. 8. John Howard, 2007 Prime Minister John Howard made an embarrassing admission on radio during the 2007 election campaign when he was campaigning in Tasmania. "I support all of my Liberal colleagues," Mr Howard said. When asked to actually name who was standing for his party in the marginal seat of Franklin, Mr Howard admitted: "I've forgotten it." 9. Jenny Macklin, 2013 Families Minister Jenny Macklin apologised in January for saying she could live on the dole for $35 a day, when challenged on the changes to the welfare payment which resulted in many single parents losing more than $100 a week. Critics including Greens MP Adam Bandt were quick to point out that Ms Macklin, who earns $6000 a week, or $850 a day, would struggle to pay rent, bills and living costs on $35 a day. 10. Kevin Rudd, 2013 Prime Minister Kevin Rudd failed to impress his audience of struggling Holden workers in Adelaide, when he referred to the years of service Sean Matthews' family had given to rival Ford. "He (Sean) tells me it's a family tradition. He's got an uncle and an aunt, two brothers in law here working at Ford,'' Mr Rudd said. "Sorry, at Holden, at Holden, at Holden," he said. 11. Stephanie Banister, 2013 The One Nation candidate for the Queensland seat of Rankin withdrew her candidacy after telling a TV reporter early on in the election campaign that "I don't oppose Islam as a country, but I do feel that their laws should not be welcome here in Australia." In the same interview, she also said she didn't have a problem with Jews and Kosher food as "Jews aren't under Haram, they have their own religion which follows Jesus Christ." 12. Jaymes Diaz, 2013 The Liberal Party candidate for the seat of Greenway literally couldn't remember any of his party's six-point plan to "stop the boats" when quizzed by Channel 10 reporter John Hill . His bumbling response to continual questions about the detail of this policy went viral and saw his lack of policy detail featured on The Daily Show, The Huffington Post, CNN and The Guardian. ###