Australia's Albanese refuses to apologize to Japan's Takaichi over melon remarks

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (left) and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese shake hands at a summit in Canberra on May 4. [EPA]

He called a gift from a fellow head of state "crap," made a breast-cupping hand gesture and jokes directed at a female leader, and said he wanted to sleep with his country's most famous pop star.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese dropped all three of those bombshells during a podcast appearance in early July — and the fallout has yet to subside.

Albanese appeared on a podcast called "Bush Deep" on July 3. The show is hosted by Australian comedian Nikki Osborne, who performs under the alter ego "Bush." When asked to name the worst gift he had ever received from a foreign leader, Albanese singled out a melon given to him by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

"At first I thought it was a bit strange, but it ultimately turned out to be a very good gift," Albanese said of the melon. When host Osborne asked how he had managed to get it through customs, Albanese clarified: "It was her — not a him. It was a royal melon." Osborne then asked whether Takaichi had smuggled it in by hiding it on her body, to which Albanese replied: "Well, she brought two."

Osborne pressed with a mischievous look — "She brought two, did she?" — and Albanese laughed and said, "She brought two. Well, you know." Osborne added that Takaichi must have looked like Pamela Anderson when she walked in. At that, Albanese raised both hands to chest height, mimicking the act of holding two melons, and said: "She brought two, and they're beautiful."

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks with host Nikki Osborne on the podcast "Bush Deep," released July 3. [Nikki Osborne YouTube]

The melons in question were Shizuoka-grown Crown melons that Takaichi had brought as gifts during her tour of Australia and New Zealand in May, marking Japan's opening of its melon market to Australian imports. Crown melons are among Japan's most prized luxury fruits. In Japan, a single melon sells for around 10,000 yen ($63) at department stores; overseas, with import and customs costs, prices range from $130 to $200 per melon. Each fruit is grown one to a vine — a painstaking quality-control method that concentrates all nutrients into a single melon — and is widely regarded as an embodiment of Japanese craftsmanship.

The exchange drew sharp criticism because the repeated emphasis on "two," the reference to actress Pamela Anderson — known for her figure — and the accompanying hand gesture were widely seen as deliberate sexual innuendo. Even if the host was trying to provoke a risqué exchange, critics said Albanese's failure to push back — whether against calling a foreign leader's gift "crap" or against the "smuggled it in her body" line — amounted to a diplomatic breach.

During the same appearance, Albanese also played a "Shag, Marry, Date" game with Osborne — a format in which participants choose which of three options they would do with each named person. When Osborne listed several celebrities and got to legendary Australian pop star Kylie Minogue, Albanese said he would choose "all of the above."

Once the podcast was released, criticism came swiftly: Albanese had committed a diplomatic blunder, insulted the female leader of a near-ally, and made inappropriate remarks about a celebrity. As the controversy grew, the prime minister's office issued a formal apology statement on July 6 — but it was addressed solely to Kylie Minogue and consisted of a single sentence saying he "unequivocally" apologized for the comment.

Albanese has offered no formal apology to Takaichi, instead insisting that critics and the opposition party have misread the situation. As recently as Tuesday, he said: "I didn't intend any offense. Prime Minister Takaichi is a friend of Australia and a friend of mine" — without apologizing.

Few observers accept that framing. In English-speaking and broader Western cultures, "melons" has long served as slang for a woman's breasts, and the term appears as a formal entry in numerous English and American slang dictionaries.

Albanese is also drawing criticism for what many see as a double standard. In June, when Victoria state Premier Jacinta Allan was subjected to a personal attack, Albanese condemned it as sexism that could not be tolerated regardless of political affiliation. Opponents of Allan had mounted a truck bearing a billboard with a doctored image of her in a black witch's hat and the slogan "Ditch the Witch." The phrase carried added weight because it had originally been used against Julia Gillard, Australia's first female prime minister, in 2011, and was widely condemned as misogynistic.

On that occasion, Albanese said: "Regardless of who you support politically, demeaning, objectifying, diminishing or insulting women is completely unacceptable. Young girls will see the premier depicted as a witch, and this kind of personal attack must stop immediately."

Having declared sexist remarks against a domestic female politician intolerable, Albanese is now refusing to apologize for remarks about a foreign female leader that many consider a diplomatic offense. Australian media and the public have been mocking him for holding domestic politicians to a strict standard while cracking melon jokes at the expense of a foreign female head of state.

kate01@heraldcorp.com