Most people never sat through the full Bush Deep podcast. They heard about the Kylie Minogue line, where Anthony Albanese said he'd "shag" the pop star, because that's the part that led every bulletin. What far fewer have seen, until now, is the other exchange from the same sit-down. The Prime Minister turned a gift from Japan's first female prime minister into a joke about her breasts.
The footage is only now spreading online, and for most people this is the first they're hearing of it. Mr Albanese still hasn't apologised directly to anyone for any of it. One News covered his "shag Kylie" comments and the statement his office later put out last week.
Here's the Sanae Takaichi melon exchange most people never saw
Asked by host Nikki Osborne for the most useless gift he'd been handed overseas, Mr Albanese settled on a melon given to him by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. When Ms Osborne assumed the leader was a man, he corrected her, then let the gag run.
The footage shows the Prime Minister leaning into the gesture as he delivers the crass line. Ms Takaichi is Japan's first female prime minister and the leader of one of Australia's closest security partners in the region. A melon from her delegation became, on a whisky podcast, a punchline about the size of her chest.
Caption: Video: Bush Deep. Anthony Albanese jokes about Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's "melons" on the podcast.
Albanese issued a statement through his office, but hasn't said sorry to anyone directly
The Prime Minister's Office released a written apology on Monday. "I apologise unequivocally for the comments," it said. Mr Albanese himself hasn't repeated that at any of the press conferences he's held since.
On Wednesday he fronted the media on electric trucks, the Telstra outage and China's missile test. He didn't raise the podcast, and reporters didn't ask him about it. There has been no personal word to Ms Takaichi, to Ms Minogue, or to the women he's accused of demeaning.
Jane Hume calls the written apology 'wholly inadequate' and asks where Labor's women are
Liberal Senator Jane Hume told Sky News a line from the Prime Minister's Office wasn't good enough.
"More than an apology, I think, is needed here issued from the Prime Minister's office. It's wholly inadequate. The comments themselves were awful. They were sexist, they were creepy. What really gets up my nose is the fact that my female Labor colleagues are nowhere to be seen."
She named them one by one. "Nothing from Penny Wong about this weird, creepy, pervy stuff that's come out from her own leader's mouth. Where's Clare O'Neil? Where's Tanya Plibersek? Where's Katy Gallagher, the Minister for Women?"
Ms Gallagher is on holidays. Acting Minister for Women Anne Aly declined to comment when approached by Sky News.
Jacinta Price says a statement isn't enough and the PM should face the country's women himself
Shadow Small Business Minister Jacinta Nampijinpa Price called the language "extremely misogynistic" and said a written line didn't cut it.
"This Prime Minister should stand before the Australian people, stand before women right around our country and apologise unreservedly himself. Not through a statement, but for the sake of every single woman in this country and girl child in this country that his behaviour is unacceptable."
Ms Price said the comments sent the wrong signal to young men. "What sort of message is he telling our young men, that it's okay to treat women and objectify them in this manner. It is highly inappropriate," she said.
Angus Taylor points to what Albanese said about respecting women just weeks ago
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor accused the Prime Minister of hypocrisy. Only weeks earlier, over the "Ditch the Witch" billboard aimed at Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan, Mr Albanese had said it was "completely unacceptable to demean, objectify, belittle or offend women".
"The hypocrisy of his comments on that podcast is extraordinary," Mr Taylor said.
Ms Allan, for her part, declined to condemn the remarks. She said she hadn't heard the interview and understood it was "in a more light-hearted manner", and left the rest to the Prime Minister.
The Kylie Minogue line got the headlines. The one about a visiting head of government, a woman, and one of Australia's closest allies got far less. The Prime Minister has apologised for neither to anyone's face.
