# PETER VAN ONSELEN: Albanese’s most senior female ministers are humiliating themselves to defend his melons joke… as he resembles the oily bloke at the end of the bar

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/peter-van-onselen-albaneses-most-senior-female-ministers-are-humiliating-themselves-to-defend-his-melons-joke-as-he-resembles-the-oily-bloke-at-the-end-of-the-bar/
- Published: 2026-08-12T00:20:52+00:00
- Updated: 2026-08-12T00:33:13+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Mail (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16045731/Albanese-melons-tanya-plibersek-penny-wong-oily-bar.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
- Topics: Government, Politics, World

## Key points

- Columnist accuses PM Albanese of a crude joke and denial
- Video evidence described as unambiguous, PM refuses to apologise
- Senior Labor women criticised for defending Albanese publicly

## Summary

An opinion piece by political editor Peter Van Onselen accuses Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of making a crude joke about the breasts of Japan's first female prime minister, then denying it happened despite video evidence and refusing to apologise. The column argues that senior Labor women, including cabinet ministers, have damaged their own credibility by publicly defending Albanese rather than distancing themselves from the remark.

The writer describes the video of the incident as "entirely unambiguous", suggesting there is little room for doubt about what was said or shown. The piece is highly critical in tone, likening Albanese's conduct to that of an "oily bloke at the end of the bar" and framing his refusal to apologise as more damaging than the original joke itself. The article text provided is an excerpt and does not name the specific ministers or provide further detail on their comments.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.