Pauline Hanson has accused Anthony Albanese of failing to officially declare four melons gifted to him by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi that prompted a safari-clad comedian to make jokes with him about breasts.
In the latest development in the humiliating saga involving claims Mr Albanese made a squeezing breasts hand signal – that he denies making – the One Nation leader has hit the register of parliamentary interests.
Under the rules, federal politicians (MPs and Senators) must declare gifts on their Register of Registrable Interests if a gift exceeds $300 from a private/non-government source, or $750 from an official government source.
The Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi gifted Mr Albanese four luxury Shizuoka Crown Melons that are highly prized in Japan and are grown by hand in greenhouse conditions.
“Something’s missing,’’ Senator Hanson said on X.
“Albanese met with Japan’s Prime Minister but appears to have misplaced his melons.
“Albanese declared the art vinyl record-storage cabinet she gave him. But there is no sign of the Royal Crown melon on his parliamentary disclosure. Or was it a couple of melons? Some of these melons can sell for tens of thousands of dollars.
“And that’s not the only juicy detail missing from the public record.
“Bush Deep, the podcast where Albanese discussed his melons, appears to be his only recent podcast interview without a transcript on the PM’s official media page.
“For a government elected on a promise of transparency, only one question remains:
“Prime Minister, where’s the melon?”
The answer is that the Prime Minister did not declare them on the official register, as officials argued each pair of melons was worth an estimated $400 and thus under the $750 limit.
It has emerged the Japanese Prime Minister actually gifted Mr Albanese four melons worth $800.
But because they were provided in two tranches, the government argues they are two separate gifts of $400 rather than one melon gift worth over $750 which should have been declared.
News.com.au has seen the official private register which shows a picture of a melon and notes that the first two melons were gifted by the Japanese PM and eaten at a dinner at the Lodge on May 4. “Valuation $200 each,’’ the document states.
Mr Albanese liked the melons so much that the Japanese embassy organised for another two to be dropped off by the Japanese embassy on June 2. They were dropped off at the Lodge the following day.
The Prime Minister’s office insists they were all duly declared and were two separate gifts worth $400 and as such only needed to be declared on the internal PMC register.
Albo under fire over melons
On Tuesday, Mr Albanese broke his silence over claims he made a “crude” joke by cupping his hands while discussing the Japanese Prime Minister’s “melons”.
During question time, the Prime Minister was peppered with questions by Liberal MP Mary Eldred, who accused him of “disrespect.”
“My 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,’’ she said.
“Will the Prime Minister personally apologise to the Prime Minister of Japan, Her Excellency Sanae Takaichi for his disrespectful behaviour?”
Mr Albanese responded by insisting that he was not making a joke about breasts.
He has repeatedly dismissed the suggestion, insisting he was simply waving his hands about, not making allusions to squeezing any parts of anatomy.
“I reject the assertion in the question,’’ Mr Albanese said.
“Australia and Japan have never been closer. My government has taken our special strategic partnership to new heights.”
PM slammed as ‘crude’
Earlier, Liberal frontbencher Michaelia Cash slammed the Prime Minister as “crude” and “dirty” over a podcast he participated in that joked about the Japanese Prime Minister’s “melons”.
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’t stack up.
“When the Prime Minister’s crude and dirty podcast banter is formally raised by the Japanese government, Anthony Albanese has embarrassed himself,’’ Senator Cash said.
“He’s embarrassed Australia. This is now a diplomatic incident because of the appalling behaviour of the Prime Minister.
“And yes, he should apologise. But can I say, I think the bigger question is this: where is our great Foreign Minister, Penny Wong?
“Penny has spent years and years and years lecturing Australians about standards and respect. And I want to know, has she formally raised this herself?
“Has 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.”
On the same panel interview, independent Monique Ryan said the remarks were “pretty cringe”.
“What do you think she’d say if it was Scott Morrison or Tony Abbott who made those remarks?,’’ Senator Cash added.
“Can you imagine the screams? I’m in Canberra. They’d be heard all the way to Western Australia. Don’t worry about that.
“Penny Wong’s hypocrisy. Tanya Plibersek’s hypocrisy. Catherine King’s hypocrisy is now on display. Their double standards are there for all Australians to see.
“They have embarrassed Australia.”
Earlier, Labor Senator Katy Gallagher defended the PM as a “huge” supporter of women.
“And I work with the prime minister. know he has a good working relationship with the Japanese Prime Minister,” she said.
“He respects women, and I work closely with him.”
Speaking on ABC radio on Wednesday, Liberal frontbencher Tim Wilson said that Australia’s “Les Paterson-style Prime Minister” should stop denying it and just apologise.
Japan’s letter to PM over ‘melons’ podcast
Japan formally raised Anthony Albanese’s appearance in a cringe-worthy podcast discussing the Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s “melons” in official correspondence.
The Albanese Government seized on the letter on Monday, noting Japan has suggested the matter had been “sensationalised” by the media and would not result in a complaint.
Mr Albanese maintains he wasn’t joking about the female prime minister’s anatomy, despite the comedian referencing Pamela Anderson, a former Baywatch star and Playboy model.
But diplomatic sources suggested the prime minister’s 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.
News.com.au understands that the opposition’s foreign affairs spokesman Ted O’Brien quietly met with the Japanese ambassador to Australia Kazuhiro Suzuki on Monday to express his “deep regret” over the comments.
He did not wish to elaborate on the private meeting other than to note that the “deep and enduring” relationship is one of Australia’s most important partnerships.
“The prime minister’s words were inappropriate and a national embarrassment,” Mr O’Brien said.
In the correspondence between Japan and the prime minister’s department, Japan also moved to clarify another “joke” in the podcast that the Japanese prime minister had “smuggled” the melons into Australia, insisting they were legally obtained here.
In the diplomatic cable dated July 13, the Japanese government suggested there had been “sensationalised reporting in the Australian media”.
It then stated that Australia could be reassured that Japan did not believe there was any “ill intention” in Mr Albanese’s comments.
The letter stressed there would be “no action” over the matter and that Japan would assist the Australian government in not making comment to “allow the Australian media to move on”.
Calls for apology
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.
“The comments were beneath the office of prime minister,’’ he said.
“They were insulting, and the prime minister should make a personal apology. He’s done it through a statement. I mean, the hypocrisy of Labor and the prime minister on this topic knows no bounds, no bounds whatsoever,” he said.
Mr Albanese has furiously denied making a crude joke about Ms Takaichi’s “melons” in the same interview where he admitted he would “shag” Kylie Minogue.
He previously apologised for his remarks about Kylie Minogue after he was asked about her on Nova’s podcast Bush Deep with Australian comedian Nikki Osborne.
During the innuendo-laden interview, Mr Albanese stated that Ms Takaichi had brought “a couple of melons,” before making a squeezing hand gesture in front of his chest.
Ms Osborne then jokingly replied: “She brought two. She just came in looking like Pamela Anderson.”
But in a terse statement on Monday, the Prime Minister’s spokeswoman denied the comments were a joke about breasts, stating, “This assertion is wrong.”
The controversy was reignited this week after Tokyo’s former ambassador in Canberra, Shingo Yamagami, penned an opinion piece slamming the “insulting” comments and speculating they have damaged the Prime Minister’s standing in Japan.
“However 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,” he writes in The Australian.
“It is a time for toiling and not for crude jokes at another’s expense.
“So, Prime Minister, please enjoy Japan’s sweet and juicy melons without thinking about a woman’s anatomy, and instead focus on what our two countries must do together.”
The former spy boss added in his opinion piece that melons were highly prized in Japan.
“A 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 (A$270).”
Read related topics:Anthony AlbanesePauline Hanson