Women should stay virgin till marriage, says an Australian politician who for 25 years believed he fathered a son with his university girlfriend.

Tony Abbott, a liberal leader, suggested in an interview to be published in Australian Women’s Weekly that men and women should try and adhere to “the rules” when it comes to sex before marriage and when they can’t – he conceded – they should use contraception, The Australian reported Monday.

Abbott was asked whether he expects his own daughters to remain virgins until they are married. He said all women should regard their virginity as “a gift” that should not be given lightly.

The Sydney MP secretly believed for 25 years he fathered a son with his university girlfriend and had previously conceded he was a pretty lousy role model when it came to avoiding pre-marital sex.

His `son’ was later revealed to be child of another man.

His university girlfriend Kathy Donnelly revealed that in the pair’s struggle not to be “sexual” they were not using contraception when they had sex.

“Tony and I because we were trying not to be sexual – that was the year Tony was thinking about entering the priesthood – we were playing Vatican roulette,” Donnelly was quoted as saying.