Rudd strip club visit not as bad as Iraq - Brown

Going to a strip club is nothing compared to sending Australian troops to war, Greens Senator Bob Brown says.

It was revealed yesterday Labor leader Kevin Rudd had visited Scores gentlemen's club in Manhattan in 2003 during a taxpayer-funded trip when he was opposition foreign affairs spokesman. Senator Brown said revelations about Mr Rudd's night in a New York gentlemen's club should be kept in perspective.

"Four years ago Kevin Rudd got drunk and took himself into a strip club," Senator Brown said.

"Four years ago John Howard, sober, took Australia into the Iraq war.

"I think the electorate can judge which one did the more harm," Senator Brown told reporters in Melbourne today.

Mr Rudd has admitted visiting the club but said he was too drunk to remember what happened inside.

Prime Minister John Howard has refused to comment about Mr Rudd's visit to the club.

Speaking in Sydney after launching a new parenting DVD, Mr Howard declined to answer questions on whether the story had been leaked from within his government.

"I've got something to say about Mr Rudd, I think his economic policy will be bad for unemployment and will be bad for the future of this country," Mr Howard told reporters today.

"As for that other issue ... I've got nothing to say. I don't intend to go there and I won't be making any comment."

Mr Howard said the issue of the source of the story should be referred to the journalist who wrote it, News Limited's Glenn Milne.

"Beyond that I have nothing to say about it, I'm not going to comment on it and it's not going to form part of any observations I make today or in the future," he said.

- Reuters