Albanese's office rejects claim he mimicked Japanese PM's breasts during podcast

The "assertion" that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese imitated the Japanese prime minister's breasts during a podcast interview "is incorrect", a spokesperson for him has told SBS News.

The comment comes after Opposition leader Angus Taylor has called on Albanese to personally apologise for remarks the prime minister made about two crown melons gifted to him by his Japanese counterpart.

The criticism follows an opinion piece by former Japanese ambassador to Australia Shingo Yamagami, published in The Australian on Monday, which criticised comments Albanese made during a podcast interview last month with comedian Nikki Osborne.

Albanese was discussing two crown melons gifted to him by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during her visit to Australia in May, gesturing near his chest as he spoke about the fruit, which he said was a "pretty strange" gift but ended up being "quite good".

Yamagami said the remarks failed to recognise the gift's cultural significance and risked undermining Australia’s close relationship with Japan.

He said crown melons are highly prized in Japan, and the fruit gifted to Albanese was carefully cultivated in a specialised greenhouse.

Yamagami also highlighted Takaichi's position as Japan's first female prime minister, noting she had previously faced derogatory comments about her gender, including from Chinese officials.

"The last thing she expected was to be so casually mocked by the trusted leader of Japan’s special strategic partner," Yamagami wrote.

Mihai Sora, the director of research at the Lowy Institute, told SBS News that the melon saga has not caused serious concern for the bilateral relationship between the two countries.

"Australia-Japan ties are too strong, and too important, for something like this to derail it. The diplomats need to iron it out — that’s their job," he said.

"But I’m sure the PM will think twice about trying to be funny on tawdry radio programs."

What did Albanese say?

During Albanese's appearance on the podcast, Osborne asked the prime minister what the "most crap gift you've ever received on an overseas jaunt" was.

Albanese said he'd received a gift recently that was "pretty strange that ended up being quite good", explaining that he'd been given was a melon from Takaichi during her visit to Australia in May.

Osborne responded by asking him how the Japanese leader got the fruit into Australia.

"Did she smuggle it?" the podcast host asked, gesturing toward her abdomen, joking that Takaichi could have said she was pregnant.

"I don't know, 'I got a couple of melons,'" Albanese replied, while smiling and making hand gestures that some critics have interpreted as an inappropriate reference to breasts.

Osborne then replied: "She brought two? She just came in looking like Pamela Anderson."

"She brought two, and they're beautiful," Albanese said.

Responding to suggestions that the prime minister's hand gestures referenced Takaichi's chest, a spokesperson for Albanese told SBS News, "the assertion is incorrect."

Last month, a widely shared Facebook post had falsely claimed that Albanese compared Takaichi's breasts to Anderson's.

The podcast comments have sparked renewed controversy after Yamagami's commentary was published in The Australian on Monday. That article followed another opinion piece published late last month by the Japan Times — and subsequently republished by The Australian on 1 August — which accused Albanese of sexism over the incident.

Sora said that Albanese's actions on the podcast were "definitely a blunder".

"I suspect the Japanese are as embarrassed as they are offended," he said.

"But the pile-on is overdone," he added in reference to the volume of criticism the prime minister is facing.

Fresh criticism

The remarks have since drawn criticism from the Opposition and Yamagami, who urged the prime minister to focus instead on the strength of the Australia-Japan relationship and the broader strategic challenges facing the Indo-Pacific.

The dispute comes weeks after the original podcast appearance, which had already attracted controversy over other comments made by Albanese, including a game of “shag, marry, date” and remarks about his sex life. The prime minister later apologised for those remarks.

Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek defended Albanese on Monday, rejecting Yamagami's interpretation of the melon gesture.

"We have an excellent relationship with Japan. Japan is a very important strategic and economic partner ... and I think the former ambassador is wrong in his interpretation," she told Seven.

Taylor, however, said the comments were beneath the office of the prime minister.

"They were insulting and the prime minister should make a personal apology," Taylor said.

Deputy Liberal leader Jane Hume also condemned the remarks as "grubby" and "inappropriate", adding to pressure on Albanese to address the criticism personally.

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