Australia PM Anthony Albanese Criticized for Comments on Japanese Melon Gifts

TLDR

• While discussing the melons Takaichi’s team had presented to Albanese during her visit to Australia in May, the host of Bush Deep, comedian Nikki Osborne, quipped: “She brought two… She just came in looking like Pamela.
• Crown melons are the “most prized fruit” in Japan and “treasured as something special”, Yamagami added, noting that a single melon costs more than 30,000 yen ($188).
• Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is under fire for comments he made about two melons gifted to him by his Japanese counterpart Sanae Takaichi, after a former Japanese envoy called it an insult.
• During an appearance on the Bush Deep podcast, Albanese gestured near his chest while referring to the crown melons, calling them “pretty strange” gifts that “ended up being quite good”.
• That episode, which aired in July, had already landed the PM in hot water because of “inappropriate” comments he made about popstar Kylie Minogue.