Australian PM Anthony Albanesedenies melons remark about Japans PM was sexual, pressure applied for apology

Anthony Albanese is facing growing pressure to offer an official apology to the Japanese Prime Minister after joking about her “melons,” but he is insisting he wasn’t referring to her breasts.Liberal leader Angus Taylor weighed 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.Anthony Albanese has furiously denied making a crude joke about Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s “melons” in the same interview where he admitted he would “shag” Kylie Minogue.It’s the first time that the Prime Minister has offered an official response to the “melons” issue.He previously apologized 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.”But the claim didn’t wash on Sunrise, with host Nat Barr grilling Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek and Barnaby Joyce about the podcast.The controversy has been reignited 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 ex...