politics
Australian PM Albanese issues apology after podcast exchange on Kylie Minogue
The prime minister issued a one-line statement apologising unequivocally for comments made during a comedy podcast interview. Opposition figures called the remarks inappropriate while a senior government minister defended the record on gender equality.
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese released a one-line statement on Monday morning apologising "unequivocally" for remarks made during a comedy podcast interview released the previous week. The interview included a rapid-fire segment in which the host asked Albanese to place three entertainers in a "shag, marry, date" game.
Albanese initially said he had just married and was reluctant to answer, then responded "Kylie, clearly" and "all of the above" when pressed about one of the entertainers.
The host continued the exchange by asking whether Albanese and his wife were "bonking like rabbits." Albanese replied jokingly that they were when they had time, adding that a win by a particular rugby league team served as an aphrodisiac. The interview was described as lighthearted and also covered Albanese's dog and gifts received from world leaders.
An independent politician said it was "entirely inappropriate" for the prime minister to participate in such a game and that he should learn to push back, lead by example and call it out as sexist. A shadow minister from the opposition said the remarks were disrespectful to women, embarrassing to Australians, and demean the office of Prime Minister.
A senior government minister defended Albanese's record on gender equality, stating that no government had been better for women's equality and that the prime minister was a fan of the entertainer in question. The acting prime minister told Radio National that Albanese had apologised unequivocally and noted that the government had achieved equality in cabinet numbers and a majority of women in the caucus.
An opposition frontbencher said the remarks were beneath his office and that the prime minister shouldn't have said them.
Albanese was in Fiji on Monday for a meeting with that country's prime minister and was due to travel to Solomon Islands later in the week before returning to Brisbane to host leaders from Tonga and Papua New Guinea at a rugby league match.
