Anthony Albanese has awkwardly skirted around questions about his attendance at a private Labor fundraising dinner hosted at the mansion of a wealthy businessman, refusing to directly address the event in an uncomfortable interview.

The Prime Minster was repeatedly pressed on Sunday over the exclusive fundraiser held at at the Sydney harbourside home of Felix Lee, 25-year-old son of Chinese businessman Phillip Dong Fang Lee, who had previously been investigated by the Australian Taxation Office.

The event attracted political scrutiny amid expectations Mr Lee will make a substantial donation to the Labor Party, with the Coalition and One Nation calling for more transparency and questioning whether adequate background checks were conducted before the dinner.

Appearing in an ABC interview, the Prime Minister repeatedly dodged questions when asked about the dinner, eventually only being able to answer by saying he “attends lots of dinners”.

“I attend lots of functions, including last night right here,” he told Insiders’ host David Speer.

“I attend lots of dinners in lots of places and I don’t talk about private dinners, I’ve held a number this week here in Adelaide as well.”

Asked whether he was comfortable attending the event given questions surrounding Mr Lee’s father, Mr Albanese added that he was unaware of those matters.

“I’m not aware of those issues, he wasn’t there … I attend a lot of meetings, functions, with lots of people. I mean talking about people’s relatives, even removed from that,” the Prime Minister said.

“We declare all of our donations in accordance with the rules, we’re transparent about it, I do attend a lot of events and that is part of the process that occurs engaging with people.”