Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has stated that his recent appearance on the Bush Deep podcast was "clearly an error." The admission comes after controversy surrounding comments made on the podcast and gestures referencing "melons" gifted to him by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
During the July 3 appearance on Nikki Osborne's Bush Deep podcast, Albanese was asked to rank celebrities. He responded by saying he would choose Kylie Minogue for all options: "sleep with, marry or date." He later described crown melons gifted by Takaichi during a May visit to Australia, gesturing with his hands in front of his chest.
In an interview on ABC's 7.30, Albanese was asked what he had learned about himself following the podcast incident. "You always need to do better and that's why initially, I made a very clear and unequivocal apology," Albanese said. He has previously apologized for his remarks about Kylie Minogue.
"I learned that I need to do better every day. Of course, if I had my time again, which you don't, then I wouldn't have done that podcast," he told host Sarah Ferguson. "We have a view which is trying to talk to as many people as possible, but clearly that was an error."
Albanese has not directly apologized for the comments made about the melons gifted by Takaichi, rejecting the assertion in parliament last week that he needed to apologize for those remarks.
Podcast host Nikki Osborne stated that Albanese responded "straight away" when invited to appear, saying, "He got back to me straight away saying 'Sure, sounds like a lot of fun.'" She added that he was aware of her podcast's style.
Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy commented on Albanese's admission, saying, "Well the prime minister has made it clear that he regrets doing the show and he's human like everyone else."