Anthony Albanese has broken his silence over claims he made a \u201ccrude\u201d joke by cupping his hands while discussing the Japanese Prime Minister\u2019s \u201cmelons\u201d.<\/p>\n
Speaking in parliament, Mr Albanese directly addressed the controversy in his own words for the first time and he was extremely careful about what he said.<\/p>\n
During question time the Prime Minister was peppered with questions by Liberal MP Mary Eldred who accused him of \u201cdisrespect.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy question is to the Prime Minister. On the Deep Bush podcast filmed at the Lodge, the Prime Minister made a series of foul-mouthed, classless comments about women,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWill the Prime Minister personally apologise to the Prime Minister of Japan, Her Excellency Sanae Takaichi for his disrespectful behaviour?\u201d <\/p>\n
Mr Albanese responded by insisting that he was not making a joke about breasts. <\/p>\n
He has repeatedly dismissed the suggestion insisting he was simply waving his hands about, not making allusions to squeezing any parts of anatomy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI reject the assertion in the question,\u2019\u2019 Mr Albanese said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAustralia and Japan have never been closer. My government has taken our special strategic partnership to new heights.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd during the recent visit by Prime Minister Takeuichi, we announced substantial outcomes, including a joint declaration on economic security co-operation.<\/p>\n
\u201cPrime Minister Takei is a friend of Australia and a friend of mine.\u201d<\/p>\n
PM slammed as \u201ccrude\u201d <\/p>\n
Earlier, Liberal frontbencher Michaelia Cash slammed the Prime Minister as \u201ccrude\u201d and \u201cdirty\u201d over a podcast he participated in that joked about the Japanese Prime Minister\u2019s \u201cmelons\u201d.<\/p>\n
As female Labor frontbenchers including Katy Gallagher were rolled out on Tuesday to defend the PM, Senator Cash said the denials that the Prime Minister was gesturing with his hands but not making a cupping motion didn\u2019t stack up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the Prime Minister\u2019s crude and dirty podcast banter is formally raised by the Japanese government, Anthony Albanese has embarrassed himself,\u2019\u2019 Senator Cash said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s embarrassed Australia. This is now a diplomatic incident because of the appalling behaviour of the Prime Minister. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd yes, he should apologise. But can I say, I think the bigger question is this: where is our great Foreign Minister, Penny Wong?<\/p>\n
\u201cPenny has spent years and years and years lecturing Australians about standards and respect. And I want to know, has she formally raised this herself?<\/p>\n
\u201cHas she told the Prime Minister that he should have apologised? I mean, all because the bloke who is crude and dirty is a Labor Prime Minister does not mean that standards should change.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the same panel interview, independent Monique Ryan said the remarks were \u201cpretty cringe\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you think she\u2019d say if it was Scott Morrison or Tony Abbott who made those remarks?,\u2019\u2019 Senator Cash added.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you imagine the screams? I\u2019m in Canberra. They\u2019d be heard all the way to Western Australia. Don\u2019t worry about that.<\/p>\n
\u201cPenny Wong\u2019s hypocrisy. Tanya Plibersek\u2019s hypocrisy. Catherine King\u2019s hypocrisy is now on display. Their double standards are there for all Australians to see.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have embarrassed Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier, Labor Senator Katy Gallagher defended the PM as a \u201chuge\u201d supporter of women.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I work with the prime minister. know he has a good working relationship with the Japanese Prime Minister,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe respects women, and I work closely with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Japan\u2019s letter to PM over \u201cmelons\u201d podcast<\/p>\n
Japan f<\/a>ormally raised Anthony Albanese\u2019s appearance<\/a>in a cringe-worthy podcast discussing the Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi\u2019s \u201cmelons\u201d in official correspondence.<\/p>\n The Albanese Government seized on the letter on Monday, noting Japan has suggested the matter had been \u201csensationalised\u201d by the media and would not result in a complaint.<\/p>\n Mr Albanese maintains he wasn\u2019t joking about the female prime minister\u2019s anatomy, despite the comedian referencing Pamela Anderson, a former Baywatch star and Playboy model.<\/p>\n But diplomatic sources suggested the prime minister\u2019s comments, made while drinking Canadian whiskey with a comedian in a safari suit, were so embarrassing that both countries were at pains to defuse the matter.<\/p>\n News.com.au understands that the opposition\u2019s foreign affairs spokesman Ted O\u2019Brien quietly met with the Japanese ambassador to Australia Kazuhiro Suzuki on Monday to express his \u201cdeep regret\u201d over the comments.<\/p>\n He did not wish to elaborate on the private meeting other than to note that the \u201cdeep and enduring\u201d relationship is one of Australia\u2019s most important partnerships.<\/p>\n \u201cThe prime minister\u2019s words were inappropriate and a national embarrassment,\u201d Mr O\u2019Brien said.<\/p>\n In the correspondence between Japan and the prime minister\u2019s department, Japan also moved to clarify another \u201cjoke\u201d in the podcast that the Japanese prime minister had \u201csmuggled\u201d the melons into Australia, insisting they were legally obtained here.<\/p>\n In the diplomatic cable dated July 13, the Japanese government suggested there had been \u201csensationalised reporting in the Australian media\u201d.<\/p>\n It then stated that Australia could be reassured that Japan did not believe there was any \u201cill intention\u201d in Mr Albanese\u2019s comments.<\/p>\n The letter stressed there would be \u201cno action\u201d over the matter and that Japan would assist the Australian government in not making comment to \u201callow the Australian media to move on\u201d.<\/p>\n Calls for apology<\/p>\n Mr Albanese is facing growing pressure to offer an official apology, with Liberal leader Angus Taylor weighing in on the row on Monday, insisting that the crass podcast was unbecoming of the office.<\/p>\n \u201cThe comments were beneath the office of prime minister,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were insulting, and the prime minister should make a personal apology. He\u2019s done it through a statement. I mean, the hypocrisy of Labor and the prime minister on this topic knows no bounds, no bounds whatsoever,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mr Albanese has furiously denied making a crude joke about Ms Takaichi\u2019s \u201cmelons\u201d in the same interview where he admitted he would \u201cshag\u201d Kylie Minogue.<\/p>\n He previously apologised for his remarks about Kylie Minogue after he was asked about her on Nova\u2019s podcast Bush Deep with Australian comedian Nikki Osborne.<\/p>\n During the innuendo-laden interview, Mr Albanese stated that Ms Takaichi had brought \u201ca couple of melons,\u201d before making a squeezing hand gesture in front of his chest.<\/p>\n Ms Osborne then jokingly replied: \u201cShe brought two. She just came in looking like Pamela Anderson.\u201d<\/p>\n But in a terse statement on Monday, the Prime Minister\u2019s spokeswoman denied the comments were a joke about breasts, stating, \u201cThis assertion is wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n The controversy was reignited this week after Tokyo\u2019s former ambassador in Canberra, Shingo Yamagami, penned an opinion piece slamming the \u201cinsulting\u201d comments and speculating they have damaged the Prime Minister\u2019s standing in Japan.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever lighthearted it was intended to be, the recent joke delivered by PM Anthony Albanese at the expense of Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi is how he might be remembered by Japanese who most value the friendship with Australia,\u201d he writes in The Australian.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a time for toiling and not for crude jokes at another\u2019s expense.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, Prime Minister, please enjoy Japan\u2019s sweet and juicy melons without thinking about a woman\u2019s anatomy, and instead focus on what our two countries must do together.\u201d<\/p>\n The former spy boss added in his opinion piece that melons were highly prized in Japan.<\/p>\n \u201cA crown melon is the most prized fruit in Japan and treasured as something special. Moreover, this particular fruit was painstakingly nurtured under intensive care in a special greenhouse. A single melon costs more than 30,000 yen ($270).\u201d<\/p>\n Sunrise erupts over melons<\/p>\n On Sunrise on Monday, Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek attempted to argue the segment wasn\u2019t an extended joke about breasts.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got the former ambassador saying the prime minister, please enjoy these melons,\u2019\u2019 host Nat Barr said.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, I think he is 100 per cent wrong, and we have an excellent relationship with Japan,\u2019\u2019 Ms Plibersek replied.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the former ambassador is wrong in his interpretation.\u201d<\/p>\n One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce said it was \u201ca really dangerous thing to say.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know you\u2019re doing the best job you can on this, Tanya, but it\u2019s just like the Kylie Minogue comment \u2013 completely wrong, completely trying to be clever. It wasn\u2019t clever,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n He suggested the PM was trying to get on the right side of \u201cthe kiddies on a podcast where someone\u2019s dressed up-I don\u2019t know-some sort of elephant fighter or whatever.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt just demeans the office of prime minister, and it certainly has created a massive problem with one of our major partners. I know in your heart, Tanya, you know it\u2019s wrong.<\/p>\n \u201cOkay? And if you came out now and said, \u201cYeah, that was a stupid thing to say. You should have apologised for it. People say, \u201cTanya, it\u2019s telling the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms Plibersek insisted it was a \u201ccomplete misinterpretation from the former ambassador completely unnecessary interpretation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPeople watching it for themselves can make their own minds up,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey do,\u2019\u2019 Mr Joyce responded.<\/p>\n \u201cThey do watch it, and they have made up their own mind. And it is inappropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n