Albanese under fire after ‘melons’ joke about Japan’s PM during podcast

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese faced renewed criticism on Tuesday after a clip surfaced of him making crude remarks about a gift from Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during a podcast interview.

What was said

The comments came during an interview on the Bush Deep podcast. When asked whether the host had smuggled the fruit through customs, Albanese held his hands up and said: “got a couple of melons”. The host replied:

“She came in looking like Pamela Anderson”

Political fallout

Australia’s opposition leader has called for Albanese to apologise over the “insulting” joke. Asked in parliament whether he would say sorry for his “disrespectful behaviour”, Albanese said:

“I reject the assertion in the question”

and added:

“Prime Minister Takaichi is a friend of Australia and a friend of mine,”

according to AFP.

Government response

Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong also addressed the issue, saying the prime minister

“did not mean for those comments to be interpreted in the way they have been by those opposite,”

AFP reported.

Context

The discussion follows a separate apology by Albanese last month for crude remarks made in the same interview about singer Kylie Minogue, in which he said he would “shag” her. The podcast clip about the Japanese gift emerged this week and drew fresh criticism from political opponents.

On the gift

During the interview Albanese described receiving a “strange” present of a Japanese royal melon from Takaichi. The article notes that premium melons in Japan are considered luxury items and can cost more than AUS$270 (R3,085), according to Japan’s former ambassador to Australia.

AFP reported the story from Sydney, Australia.