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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says it was an error to make an appearance on a podcast episode that led to weeks of criticism.
“If I had my time again, which you don’t, then I wouldn’t have done that podcast,” Albanese told ABC’s 7.30 on Thursday.
“We have a view which is trying to talk to as many people as possible, but clearly, that was an error,” Albanese said.
The prime minister’s appearance opposite Nikki Osborne on an episode of the Bush Deep podcast, which aired in early July, spawned some uproars.
The first came over a game of “marry, date, shag” when he nominated pop star Kylie Minogue for “all of the above”. He subsequently apologised, facing heavy criticism from political opponents saying he had demonstrated a lack of judgment and should have known better than to play along with the inappropriate game.
But the controversy escalated as parliament returned earlier in August, when Japan’s former ambassador to Australia Shingo Yamagami wrote in The Australian that Albanese made an “insulting” gesture while talking about crown melons gifted to him by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in May.
During the podcast, filmed at The Lodge, Osborne joked to Albanese about Takaichi smuggling the crown melons under her shirt “like Pamela Anderson”. Albanese then gestured with both hands as he told Osborne the gift had been “a couple of melons”.
Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi appeared at a press conference alongside Australian counterpart Richard Marles in Canberra this week, playing down the controversy.
“Before I visited Australia, the Australian side had already told the Japanese side that Mr Albanese … did not really mean it that way,” he said.
Japan’s ambassador to Australia Kazuhiro Suzuki earlier indicated the government in Tokyo was more inclined to shut down the issue rather than escalate it.
“In any case, the dinner hosted by prime minister Albanese during the [Japanese] prime minister’s visit to Australia this May was held in a very relaxed atmosphere, and we believe it helped build a personal trust relationship between the two leaders,” he said.
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Jack Gramenz is a breaking news reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.From our partners
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