Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has faced criticism after a crude interview on Nikki Osborne's "Bush Deep" podcast, in which he answered lewd questions and made suggestive remarks about his marriage. In this opinion piece, the Daily Mail's Australian political editor Peter Van Onselen argues the real fault lies not just in what Albanese said, but in the deliberate decision by him and his advisers to appear in such a format, sipping whisky at The Lodge with a comic host while inviting inappropriate questions. Van Onselen contends the episode makes Albanese look as though he has traded the dignity of his office for cheap online attention.

During the interview, Albanese was asked to play "shag, marry, date" with Kylie Minogue, Nicole Kidman and Rhonda Burchmore. He initially deflected by noting he had been married only six months, but when pressed he named Minogue for "all of the above", joked about "bonking like rabbits" depending on the Rabbitohs' results, and made an odd, gesture-laden tangent about the Japanese Prime Minister and a gift of melons. By Monday, Albanese had issued what he called an "unequivocal" apology, though only in a brief written statement.