Editorial: PM needs to find a way to wash out podcast stain
Anthony Albanese looked and sounded completely rattled on Thursday by questions about what has become known as Melongate.
The footage was telling.
Anthony Albanese looked and sounded completely rattled on Thursday by questions about what has become known as Melongate.
So much so that NSW Premier Chris Minns did the unthinkable — he intervened and cut short Mr Albanese as the Prime Minister addressed a media conference in what seemed like an attempt to shield him from further pressure.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Mr Albanese was trying to defend himself against allegations he had engaged in offensive talk on a podcast which included apparent double entendres and suggestive hand signals about two melons Japan’s female Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi had given him.
It was the same Bush Deep podcast in Mr Albanese also said he would “shag” popstar Kylie Minogue and talked about sex with new wife Jodie Haydon.
Mr Albanese referenced the melons when asked by host Nikki Osborne: “What’s the most crap gift you’ve ever received?”
After the podcast went to air Mr Albanese issued a bland statement that “I apologise unequivocally for the comments”.
It was not clear which comments he was sorry for and who he was apologising to. But it did appear aimed at Ms Minogue.
Mr Albanese must have thought he had stonewalled his way through the incident until this week when Japan’s former ambassador to Australia, Shingo Yamagami, and Tomohiko Taniguchi, a one-time adviser to former Japanese leader Shinzo Abe, both attacked his comments.
Seven News revealed official correspondence on Monday night from the Japanese Embassy saying that reporting of the podcast exchange had been “sensationalised” and that it believed Mr Albanese had no “ill intention”.
Mr Albanese then went on to reject any assertion of disrespectful behaviour and said Ms Takaichi “is a friend of Australia and a friend of mine”
He is said to be insistent he was simply talking with his hands in discussing the melons.
And senior Labor ministers — including senior female ministers — have lined up to back him.
On Wednesday Japan’s ambassador to Canberra revealed that “we have been informed by the Australian side that Prime Minister Albanese did not make the comments in the way that has been reported.”
Mr Albanese was again under pressure at the announcement of a $2.5b bailout for the Tomago aluminum smelter in NSW.
He stumbled over questions about the melons before Mr Minns stepped in to urged the conversation back to the smelter.
Mr Albanese’s manner harked back to his early timid performances as Opposition leader.
He has gained in confidence since he was elected Prime Minister and shown the ability to bounce back from political setbacks.
Mr Albanese’s ministers’ public expressions of loyalty are a credit to his party management.
His track record shows Mr Albanese will find a way to navigate through the politics of the podcast gaffe.
The wider challenge will be to manage what has become a reflection on his personal character.
And in the long if he fails to find a way to wash off that stain, the damage to his standing could be even greater than from fallout from any purely political issues.
