Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been accused by the Coalition of making "disrespectful" remarks about Japan's first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, during a podcast appearance. The matter matters because it touches on both diplomatic sensitivities with a key ally and ongoing criticism of the Prime Minister's conduct towards women.

The remarks were made last Friday on Nova's "Bush Deep" podcast, where Albanese discussed the official gift of two Shizuoka-grown "royal melons" that Takaichi had presented during her visit to Australia to mark the reopening of the Australian market to Japanese melon imports. When host Nikki Osborne joked about whether the melons had been "smuggled" through customs, gesturing and referencing Pamela Anderson, Albanese responded with a similar gesture and quips such as "Got a couple of melons" and "She brought two, as you do." Opposition communications spokeswoman Sarah Henderson urged him to apologise to Takaichi and to all women, accusing him of "crude locker room talk". The criticism follows earlier backlash over his participation in a game of "shag, marry, date".