There was a regrettable gap in Anthony Albanese’s mea culpa following his notorious appearance on that low-rent podcast last month. The short statement issued by the prime minister’s minders apologising for talking about shagging Kylie Minogue should also have included an apology for the crude remarks made about his Japanese counterpart, Sanae Takaichi.Albanese’s nudge-nudge “joke” and gestures about the “two beautiful melons” Takaichi brought as a gift during her visit to Australia were mentioned in passing as part of the mostly inward-looking media coverage of the podcast debacle. Nor did the incident generate the kind of condemnation that was warranted from the usual left-leaning commentators and women’s groups, who would have been highly critical if a Coalition PM such as Tony Abbott or Scott Morrison had indulged in the same sexualised commentary as Albanese.Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Fetching latest articles