How Prime Minister Albanese saved Dolly Parton’s Down Under tour - and earned a cuddle in the process

As the world grieves one of the best country music stars to ever grace the stage, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has reminisced on how he helped save the legend’s Australian tour 15 years ago.

In January 2011, adored actress and songstress Dolly Parton sent fans into a tizzy after announcing her 10th world tour The Better Day World Tour would be heading to Australia — marking her first trip Down Under since 1987.

Tickets to 12 concerts across six Australian cities sold out just mere minutes after going on sale.

While more than 100,000 Aussie ticketholders were thrilled at the chance to forget the monotony of their 9 to 5 and dance the night away to Parton’s catalogue of Grammy-winning hits, the tour was soon thrown in jeopardy by governmental red tape.

While the then 65-year-old was happy to fly from her hometown of Nashville to Australia, she had insisted on travelling between cities with her entourage inside her luxury tour bus.

Customs officials denied the superstar’s request, saying that her massive 14.5m black bus violated Australian road regulations.

With Parton’s representatives warning the nation that “no bus means no tour”, all 12 of her Down Under shows were at risk of cancellation — until one politician stepped in.

As then transport minister under Julia Gillard, Mr Albanese had been on the receiving end of an appeal from Parton’s Australian promoters about the bus saga.

He liasied with Customs and bureaucrats on State and Federal levels to organise approval for Parton’s bus.

“This was a practical example of what happens when you have different sets of rules across eight different states and territories,” the future prime minister said at the time.

“Rules are there for a reason — but commonsense tells you Dolly Parton touring here is good for her fans and the economy.”

In a later interview about the scandal, Mr Albanese revealed that cancelling the 2011 tour would have cost the Australian economy “in excess of $30m”.

After two months of negotiations and edicts, Mr Albanese finally won his fight against the red tape — with the bus officially cleared for landing in Australia.

While fans were thrilled at the turn of events, no one was more happy about Mr Albanese’s involvement than the Queen of Country herself.

Speaking at a Sydney press conference upon her arrival in November 2011, Parton vowed to give the Australian politician a “huge cuddle” when she got the chance to meet him.

“Now I don’t know if he’s here today but if he is, you can come up here and I’ll smear lip gloss all over you,” she told the crowd at the time.

The Aussie politician didn’t have to wait long for the promised hug, meeting the star just days later at her Sydney concert.

While Albo has remained mostly tight-lipped on what he and the singer spoke about during their meeting, he did confirm the star had given him a “memorable cuddle” backstage.

“What goes on tour stays on tour,” he later quipped on ABC’s Spick and Specks in 2024.

Three years later, Parton returned to Australia for her next tour and faced zero issues bringing her bus into the country.

The 2014 tour, which ended with a sold-out show in Perth, was the last time Parton visited the country.

Parton died in Nashville on Tuesday, aged 80, after a brief battle with cancer.

In a statement released on Wednesday morning, the Prime Minister reminisced on his experience with the global starlet more than a decade ago.

“One of the joys of my time in government was when I was able to help Dolly overcome a bit of red tape and get her tour bus onto Australian roads in 2011,” he wrote.

“It was a magical experience meeting her but what was even better was seeing her among her legions of local fans.”

Mr Albanese was not the only notable person to express their grief over Parton’s passing, with tributes also flowing from celebrities including Paul McCartney, Beyonce, Reba McEntire, Kacey Musgraves, Keith Urban, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Julia Roberts.

Parton’s family are planning a small, private funeral service.