Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has faced political controversy after discussing a Japanese melon gifted by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on a podcast, with the dispute now escalating over the alleged unauthorised disclosure of government diplomatic documents. The opposition has called on the Australian Federal Police to investigate the source of the documents, questioning whether the government leaked the correspondence to defend the Prime Minister.
The controversy began when Takaichi visited Australia in May and presented Albanese with two premium Shizuoka Crown melons. In July, Albanese discussed the gift on a podcast, where the host linked the melons to American actress Pamela Anderson. Albanese described the melons as “beautiful”. Former Japanese Ambassador to Australia Shingo Yamagami later criticised the remarks as inconsistent with the respect expected towards an important diplomatic partner.
The Australian government defended Albanese, arguing that his comments contained no sexual connotations. Albanese also refused to apologise, stressing the close strategic relationship between Australia and Japan.
The Japanese government reportedly did not formally protest the remarks. A Japanese official wrote to the Australian government last month, stating that Japan would not lodge a protest over the podcast comments and considered Australian media coverage of the incident to be “overblown”. However, the government-to-government correspondence was subsequently obtained by at least two Australian media outlets.
Opposition foreign affairs spokesperson Ted O’Brien and shadow defence minister James Paterson have written to the Australian Federal Police, calling for an investigation into whether the documents were disclosed without authorisation. They warned that failure to properly protect confidential government communications could damage trust between Australia and its diplomatic partners and undermine the national interest.