Anthony Albanese’s Instagram use raises security fears over spies amid Bush Deep Melongate controversy

Anthony Albanese is being urged to log off his Instagram, with the opposition warning that it is not just comedian podcasters but spies who could also be potentially sliding into the Prime Minister’s DMs.

Mr Albanese has been plunged into a diplomatic and sexism row following his now-infamous podcast appearance which he agreed to do after the host approached him in a private message on the social media photo-sharing platform Instagram.

On the Bush Deep podcast, Mr Albanese said that he would shag Kylie Minogue, joked that he scheduled sex with his new wife after Rabbitohs games; then criticised the Japanese Prime Minister’s diplomatic melon gift as “pretty strange” and leaned into a comparison of the fruit and Pamela Anderson’s breasts.

Shadow Defence minister Jame Paterson told The Nightly that the Prime Minister could avoid more embarrassing podcast appearances, as well as be more mindful of the security implications of being publicly available via social media, if he signed out.

“It’s a bit of a worry that you can apparently book a podcast and a scotch at the Lodge direct with the PM by just sliding into his DMs,” he said.

“Our intelligence agencies have repeatedly warned us that social media is a major vector for cyber attacks, foreign interference and espionage. That risk is obviously heightened if the Prime Minister is personally responding to social media messages on his own device.

“There is no higher priority foreign intelligence target than a prime minister. Perhaps it’s time to log off and let the office manage it from now on.”

Nikki Osborne, the host of the Bush Deep podcast, has also expressed her surprise at how easy it was to access the Prime Minister and secure a visit to his official residence, The Lodge in Canberra.

She said Mr Albanese had earlier praised her to his team as “a lot of fun” after first talking with her for an interview in her capacity as a host on Brisbane’s Nova radio station in March last year.

During that interview, Mr Albanese picked Kylie Minogue as “all of the above” in a game of Shag, Marry, Date and Ms Osborne cracked jokes about erectile dysfunction drug Viagra. Ms Osborne told podcaster Mark Bouris that despite not being a Labor voter, she found the Prime Minister likeable and said the feeling was mutual.

“We actually had really good banter, which I was quite surprised about because I wasn’t a Labor voter. Then I had him on the show again. And then he’d said to his staff and to Nova: ‘I really like her. She’s good fun.’”

She said she thought she would have to jump through hoops to secure a sit-down interview with the prime minister and was astonished when he replied immediately to her Instagram private message and swiftly agreed to all her demands.

These included that the interview be filmed in his official residence, The Lodge, and that the conversation was personal and about him and that he would not discuss any politics.

“He got back to me straight away — went: ‘Sure, sounds like a lot of fun,” she said.

She said she was equally stunned that when she turned up at The Lodge “with my legs and cleavage hanging out,” in her Bush Barbie costume, she did not have to show any ID to enter the Prime Minister’s taxpayer-funded residence.

“That was bizarre going down in my khaki frock with my legs and my cleavage hanging out, my pith helmet on, walking into the Lodge. (I) went through all the security, but they didn’t ask me for my ID or anything because it was just ‘Oh, you’re Bush Barbie,’” she said.

“I just walked in. It was so bizarre. We completely rearranged the entire lounge room — we were still waiting for him to come back from Parliament. And then he came in and sat down. And I said: ‘Where’s Toto?’ He said: ‘Toto’s in Sydney at the moment’.”

“I said I wanted to hang out with Toto, he said: ‘Well, actually we’ve got a stuffed Toto, so we brought out stuffed Toto. He sat that next to him.”

“I’m serious,” she said when challenged by an equally astonished Mark Bouris about whether she was being serious or joking about the Prime Minister producing a stuffed version of the dog he shares with his first wife and former Deputy NSW Premier Carmel Tebbutt.

Ms Osborne said that was when the Prime Minister asked for the top-shelf scotch, which they both drank as they conducted the now-infamous interview. She said after the interview finished she was able to stay at The Lodge for a long time and continue talking with Mr Albanese.

When asked if it was the prime minister or his staff responding to Ms Osborne on Instagram, the Prime Minister’s office did not respond for several days and later said they had nothing to add.

It is highly unusual for world leaders to operate their own social media accounts. Mr Albanese’s predecessor, former Liberal leader Scott Morrison, did not have social media apps on his phone. Even Malcolm Turnbull, who preceded Mr Morrison in office and was regarded as one of the more digitally savvy leaders, has no record of responding to people approaching him through social media sites. Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s accounts were also managed by staff.

Former Labor staffers have told The Nightly that social media for former prime ministers Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd were managed centrally by the office.

“We didn’t want them to see the negs,”said one veteran staffer, referring to the online abuse directed towards prime ministers.

But social media sites are also a known security risk for high-target individuals. Not only can they be a vector for spies they can also be used to implant malware, tracking software and other cyber-hacking tools into someone else’s device.

One former Commonwealth national security agency head said AI could be used to generate convincing fake copies of profiles that could compromise phones by transferring embedded malware through seemingly innocent tools like privately shared photos.

They said a foreign intelligence service could easily create a fake Bush Deep profile and contact the PM via his DMs asking a benign question that could include a photo or link, which if clicked on, could transmit malware.

ASIO boss Mike Burgess has repeatedly warned of spies using social media platforms, particularly LinkedIn, to target anyone with classified information, especially relating to AUKUS.

In 2024, Mr Burgess warned about an elite foreign spy operation dubbed the “A-Network” that was targeting Australian students, academics, politicians, businesspeople, researchers, law enforcement officials and public servants.

“While they usually contact their targets on professional networking sites, team members sometimes reach out through email, social media and messaging platforms. They’ve also used previously cultivated and recruited Australians to contact other Australians on their behalf,” he said.

He said the A-team had “successfully cultivated and recruited a former Australian politician” who ASIO has never named.