Image: Bush Deep podcast
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been criticised for comments about a gift from Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Taekaichi during her May visit.
In an interview with podcaster Nikki Osborne last month (already controversial because of his comments about Kylie Minogue) Albanese said the melons were a “strange gift”.
A former Japanese ambassador to Australia slammed the PM, saying he likened the gift “to a woman’s chest”.
The current Japanese ambassador defended Albanese, saying he “did not make the comments in the way that has been reported.”
Background
It’s traditional for world leaders to give their counterparts a gift when they visit their countries.
For example, The Guardian reports Albanese gave U.S. President Donald Trump a “model nuclear submarine with golden plates and finishes” last year.
In May, Takaichi visited Australia and gave Albanese crown melons, worth around 30,000 yen or $AU267 per melon.
Podcast
Albanese appeared on comedian Nikki Osborne’s podcast in June, which she hosts as the character “Bushie”.
Osborne asked Albanese to name “the most crap gift” he has received from another leader (before asking him the “shag date or marry” question involving Kylie Minogue).
The PM said Takaichi’s gift was “pretty strange but ended up being quite good”.
Osborne asked how Takaichi “got that through customs,” adding: “She just came in looking like Pamela Anderson?”
Albanese did not directly reply, but said: “She brought two and they’re beautiful.”
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Criticism
Last week, former Japanese ambassador to Australia Shingo Yamagami wrote an op-ed in The Australian, criticising Albanese.
He called the joke “sexist”, and reflected on misogynist comments about Takaichi’s expense from Chinese politicians and her Opposition counterparts.
“What dismayed some was that Takaichi has recently been subject to derogatory remarks about her body and gender,” Yamagami noted.
Yamagami’s piece was inspired by a column in The Japan Times by Japanese writer Waka Ikeda in late July.
Ikeda said: “This is the leader of Australia’s closest security partner in Asia and her state gift became a breast joke on a crude podcast.”
Ikeda also criticised a lack of commentary about the matter, particularly considering the backlash Albanese received for his comments about Minogue in the same interview.
Aus response
Speaking to media on Monday, Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said he thinks Albanese “owes the Prime Minister of Japan a personal apology.”
When asked on Tuesday by Liberal MP Mary Aldred if he would apologise for his “foul-mouthed, classless comments” Albanese said he “reject[ed] the assertion in the question.”
Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek defended Albanese when asked about the “insulting” comments in a Sunrise interview on Monday, saying: “I completely disagree with that interpretation”.
Japan response
In a statement, Japan’s Ambassador to Australia Kazuhiro Suzuki said the embassy is “aware of the reporting in the media.”
“We have been informed by the Australian side that Prime Minister Albanese did not make the comments in the way that has been reported,” he said.
Suzuki added that the two Prime Ministers had dinner during the official visit in May, and that there was “a very relaxed atmosphere” that “helped build a personal trust relationship between the two leaders.”
