Tokyo on Wednesday played down comments by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese about melons gifted to him by his Japanese counterpart that have triggered a row Down Under, stressing the leaders’ good relationship. “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,” a Japanese government statement said. “In any case, the dinner hosted by Prime Minister Albanese during the 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 statement added. Albanese had already apologized over comments made during an interview last month with the comedy podcast Bush Deep in which he named Kylie Minogue as someone he would “shag.” But separate comments in the interview about the “strange” present of Japanese melons by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in May -- when asked about his “most crap” diplomatic gift -- this week sparked further uproar. When the host asked if she’d “smuggled” the expensive fruit through Australian customs, Albanese held his hands up adjacent to his chest and said he “got a couple of melons.” “She came in looking like Pamela Anderson,” the often provocative podcast’s host Nikki Osborne replied, referring to the U.S. actor and “Baywatch” star. Australia’s opposition leader has called for Albanese to apologize over the “insulting” comments. Asked whether he would say sorry for his “disrespectful behaviour” in parliament on Tuesday, the Australian leader said: “I reject the assertion in the question.” The comments prompted some outrage on social media in Japan, where Takaichi became the country’s first woman prime minister last year. “I’m not a supporter of the Liberal Democratic Party or a defender of the current government, but this is really awful. It’s disrespectful towards our prime minister,” said one X user. “Sure this guy’s remarks are unbelievable. On top of that, it suggests how he thinks it’s OK to treat Takaichi -- or Japan for that matter -- this crudely,” said another. Some were also offended by the perceived insult to Japanese fruit, with the variety of melon in question costing upwards of 30,000 yen (US$190). “Don’t you dare think the Australian fruits and ours are the same. Ignorance is pathetic,” said one social media comment. Albanese for his part qualified his comments, saying that the fruit “ended up being quite good.”
