Sydney shock jock Alan Jones has used the N-word on air.
"The nigger 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, is Matthias Cormann," the 77-year-old said on Thursday morning when discussing Australia's leadership spill.
No Alan, pretty sure you can’t use that expression.
Jones responded to criticism on Thursday afternoon via Twitter.
We all make mistakes. This morning on 2GB and 4BC I spoke about the covert actions of some political operatives in the current leadership challenges within the Liberal Party 1/2
I used an old and offensive figure of speech that I regret saying. People should be honest and forthright in their actions and that is not happening in the Liberal Party right now. I will have more to say on this tomorrow 2/2
This is not the first time Jones, who has a huge audience, has used the phrase on air.
"You're there not to buckle at the knees just because a few little media outlets and sympathisers to Julia Gillard want you to," he said when addressing former prime minister Tony Abbott in 2012.
"There's talk of Malcolm Turnbull, the nigger in the woodpile."
The same year Jones apologised for calling Lebanese Muslims "mongrels" and "vermin".
BuzzFeed News has contacted 2GB for comment.