Furor over Albanese's melons joke could force Japan into drama it wanted to avoid

For a month the Japanese government has studiously remained quiet on Anthony Albanese's melons "joke". But the media frenzy in Australia could be a response it didn't want to make.

Anthony Albanese appeared to gesture in front of his chest while talking about the gift on a podcast last month

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese sidestepped calls to apologise on Tuesday after a clip emerged of him engaging in crude banter about a gift from his Japanese counterpart. Albanese had already faced a backlash and apologised over comments made during an interview last month with the Bush Deep podcast in which

A joke gone wrong has ignited a diplomatic storm, and the Prime Minister’s own words are now being picked apart. Watch the clip here.

This is not the type of gaffe that will shake the bilateral relationship, but nor should Japanese officials’ public silence be interpreted as an absence of dismay about the framing of their leader in such a way.

This is not the type of gaffe that will shake the bilateral relationship, but nor should Japanese officials’ public silence be interpreted as an absence of dismay about the framing of their leader in such a way.

Opposition leader Angus Taylor said comments Anthony Albanese made about a gift from Japan's prime minister were "insulting".