Mayor defends 'ugly ducklings' comments

Canberra: A plea for lovelorn female "ugly ducklings" to move to a remote Australian mining town to reverse a shortage of eligible women has landed the local mayor in hot water.

Mt Isa Mayor John Molony on Monday was refusing to apologise for angering local women with a suggestion that "with five blokes to every girl, may I suggest that beauty-disadvantaged women should proceed to Mount Isa", in north-west Queensland state.

The mayor said he was "telling it like it is" in a testosterone-laden town more famous for cowboys and mining lead, silver, copper and zinc than for match-making, sitting atop one of the world's biggest underground mines.

"I'm a bloke who respects women. I'm told men outnumber women here by five to one. If that's the case, then perhaps it's an opportunity for some lonely women," Molony said. Fellow council members and the local chamber of commerce said they had been swamped with complaints.