Karl Stefanovic has taken aim at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over his now-infamous ‘shag, marry, date’ podcast appearance, arguing there is a glaring inconsistency in what Labor chooses to apologise for.
Albanese issued an ‘unequivocal’ apology on Monday after his appearance on the Bush Deep podcast with host Nikki Osborne last week.
He was asked to play a game of ‘shag, marry or date’ involving Kylie Minogue, Nicole Kidman and Rhonda Burchmore, choosing which celebrity he would sleep with, marry or date.
After noting he is married to Jodie Haydon, Albanese picked Minogue and, when Osborne asked whether he would ‘marry Kylie and shag her and date her’, the Prime Minister replied: ‘All of the above.’
Stefanovic has now asked why Albanese apologised for the remarks but has not said sorry for policies that draw criticism, such as his overhaul of negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount in the Federal Budget.
‘What a week for Albo, hey, trying to connect with those kids on social media,’ he said on Wednesday.
‘Getting a little greasy [by] appearing on the Bush Deep podcast with Nikki Osborne.
‘It’s strange to prioritise apologising for that and not for one of the most publicly despised Budgets of all time. Priorities, priorities. Let’s keep our position for once.’
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese apologised after taking part in a ‘shag, marry or date’ game during a podcast interview
The Prime Minister described Aussie pop star Kylie Minogue as ‘terrific’
Karl Stefanovic (pictured) took aim at the Prime Minister after he apologised for the podcast appearance but not for policies in his Federal Budget
Stefanovic also claimed the reaction would have been harsher if a conservative politician had made similar remarks.
‘Well, he later apologised, but I mean, can you imagine if someone from the right said that? All hell would break loose,’ Stefanovic said.
‘Women on the left justified it all saying, “Oh well, it’s just Albo”.’
Albanese’s remarks have drawn criticism in Canberra, with some colleagues accusing the Prime Minister of resorting to ‘locker-room antics’.
Independent Fowler MP Dai Le said Albanese’s remarks were ‘unbecoming of a gentleman’ and suggested he was trying to appeal to a younger generation.
‘In parliament we’re not supposed to use certain words,’ she said.
‘I find that very unbecoming of a gentleman, but maybe the Prime Minister is trying to appeal to another group, a target audience that doesn’t mind that kind of language being used.’
Community Strong MP Zali Steggall said it was ‘entirely inappropriate’ for the PM to respond to the question.
Albanese made the remarks during an appearance on the Bush Deep podcast hosted by Nikki Osborne
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‘He needs to learn to push back, lead by example and call it out as sexist,’ Steggall said.
One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce also weighed in, describing Albanese’s remarks as ‘a bit below him’.
When asked what he would have done had he been asked, Joyce replied: ‘Avoided the question, like most people.’
Albanese has also faced criticism for another exchange during the podcast with Osborne involving Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
Discussing unusual gifts from world leaders, Albanese recalled Takaichi had given him two luxury Japanese melons.
‘The Japanese Prime Minister brought a melon,’ Albanese said.
After Osborne joked about customs and asked whether the gift-giver was a woman, Albanese replied: ‘Got a couple of melons.’
‘She brought two!’ Osborne responded, to which Albanese said she ‘brought two, as you do’.
Osborne then quipped that Takaichi ‘just came in looking like Pamela Anderson’, before Albanese repeated: ‘She brought two.’
