Source : the age
The Japanese ambassador to Australia has backed Anthony Albanese over the prime minister’s controversial melon comments as the Coalition and One Nation united to demand the prime minister apologise.
Almost six weeks after Albanese was filmed in the Lodge last month joking with a bawdy podcaster about melons gifted to him by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, ambassador Kazuhiro Suzuki issued a rare statement on Wednesday afternoon playing down the comments.
“We are aware of the reporting in the media. We have been informed by the Australian side that prime minister Albanese did not make the comments in the way that has been reported. In any case, the dinner hosted by prime minister Albanese during the [Japanese] prime minister’s visit to Australia this May was held in a very relaxed atmosphere, and we believe it helped build a personal trust relationship between the two leaders.“
The extraordinary intervention by the Japanese ambassador shows the government in Tokyo is determined to shut down the issue rather than escalate it.
Japan and Australia are close strategic and economic partners and share similar views on China’s aggressive posture in the region, with two Japanese ministers expected to visit this month.
Albanese rejected repeated calls from the Coalition in question time that he apologise for the melon gaffe. Opposition leader Angus Taylor criticised the prime minister’s “appalling behaviour” on the podcast, and asked: “why won’t the prime minister stop treating us like fools, man up, and say sorry to the prime minister of Japan.”
Albanese gave a brief response, saying his government took the relationship with Japan seriously, and had constructive dealings with the foreign partner.
On July 3, Albanese appeared on Nikki Osborne’s podcast, during which the prime minister mentioned the crown melons – a rare delicacy and status symbol in Japan – given to him by Takaichi as an official gift from her trip in May. Osborne made a joke to Albanese about Takaichi smuggling in crown melons under her shirt “like Pamela Anderson”. Albanese then gestured with both hands as he told Osborne the gift had been “a couple of melons”.
Senior government ministers including Tanya Plibersek, Katy Gallagher and Murray Watt have all this week defended Albanese.
While Albanese was quick to apologise for playing along, in the same podcast, with a game of “marry, date, shag” by nominating pop star Kylie Minogue for “all of the above”, his office has only said the melon remark was misinterpreted.
The controversy did not escalate until Japan’s former ambassador to Australia Shingo Yamagami wrote in The Australian on Monday that Albanese’s gesture was “insulting”, prompting the opposition and One Nation to ramp up their criticism as coverage of the issue spread from Australia to Japan’s Asahi newspaper, the BBC and beyond.
In a further question in parliament on Wednesday, opposition foreign affairs spokesman Ted O’Brien asked Albanese if he could confirm that no one in his office or department “leaked official and private correspondence between the Australian and Japanese governments”.
The Coalition on Tuesday night demanded a federal police probe of the leak of a diplomatic note sent by Tokyo to Canberra on July 13, which noted “sensationalised reporting in the Australian media” about the podcast interview and which undertook that “no action” would be taken over the incident.
Albanese dismissed this demand as “a political stunt”, saying the Australian Federal Police is “completely independent of the government, and they’ll undertake their work, and I’m confident about that”.
Earlier on Wednesday, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said Albanese’s comments were “disgusting”, adding that “he cannot apologise, and that is not leadership”.
“If you get it wrong, you call it out and say it’s all wrong, and he’s continued with the lie. That just made it worse,” Hanson said.
“I feel for that prime minister of Japan, Takaichi, and I think it’s wrong the way she has been treated.”
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James Massola is chief political commentator. He was previously national affairs editor and South-East Asia correspondent. He has won Quill and Kennedy awards and been a Walkley finalist. Connect securely on Signal @jamesmassola.01Connect via X or email.
Nick Newling is a federal politics reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.
