Prime Minister Scott Morrison insists “blokes” don’t always “get it right” but says he’s doing his best to address cultural change at Parliament House.

Late on Tuesday, Mr Morrison apologised for suggesting at an earlier news conference that News Corp was dealing with a claim of harassment, accepting that it is not the case.

He made the comments while addressing cultural issues around the treatment of women within Parliament.

On Wednesday, Mr Morrison told Nine Radio he’s trying to create a culture of respect.

“Blokes don’t get it right all the time, we all know that, but what matters is that we’re desperately trying to, and that’s what I’m trying to do, and we will get this right – we all need to focus on that.”

The Prime Minister said issues of respect for women extend beyond Parliament House – and it is up to all of society to make change, not just the federal government.

“This is a societal challenge. One of the things you learn pretty quickly in government is that government can’t solve all these problems,” he said.

“We can certainly do our bit, but we’ve all got a role to play here. And if everyone sits back and says ‘well, the government’s going to fix this’, well, it won’t get fixed.”

Minister for Superannuation Jane Hume said the Prime Minister “over spoke” on Tuesday, but said it was important to grasp this moment and move on.

“I think he thinks it was an error, that he mis-stepped there, that he over spoke and that he was misinformed,” she said.

“He’s apologised for that and that was the right thing to do.

“The question is now, how do we move on.”

Liberal MP Katie Allen said the Prime Minister’s comment was a mistake, but argued women were more interested in hearing about how problems of workplace culture are going to be fixed.

“Women want to hear – what is it this Parliament is going to deliver for them?” she said.

“That’s what I want to hear about from the Prime Minister.

“Yep, absolutely a misstep from the Prime Minister, I completely agree with that, let’s move on.”

In a wide-ranging, 20-minute long interview with Nine Radio’s Ray Hadley, Mr Morrison covered treatment of women, the floods and the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

“It’s been a pretty intense year and from time to time, that shows. That’s just human and I think people understand that,” Mr Morrison said.

Mr Morrison volunteered that he was backing Cronulla Sharks player Chad Townsend to “have a great game” this weekend.

Against Canberra last weekend, the halfback missed a simple shot at goal that led to a loss.

“I’m just glad the footy’s back on,” Mr Morrison laughed.

“It helps everybody.”

-ABC