Why on earth did he do that interview?
This is what kids might call shame. You could also call it multifarious sexism. You could definitely call this too much information.
The revelation that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had chosen Kylie Minogue for his “make love, marry, date” game was something none of us needed to know and we all wish we didn’t.
Albanese made Kylie’s comment on a podcast with comedian Nikki Osborne.
To be fair, this was a looser interview style designed to showcase a politician’s relatability.
Is this relatable?
Not to the scolding of feminists like me. It’s just a tiresome confirmation that not as much has changed as we’d like to think.
The Prime Minister apologized clearly and quickly after his remarks became widely publicized.
Maybe this is our fault. We complain about the dishonesty of our politicians and ask why they can never speak clearly. This, according to popular belief, is part of Pauline Hanson’s appeal.
But when they do, we yell at them and punish them for going out of bounds.
Except, outside… why is relatability turning into what Donald Trump might call “locker room talk”?
Isn’t it possible to be relaxed and playful and still respect women? Are you making non-sexual jokes?
It was always going to be a wink-wink kind of interview. Podcast name bush deepThis seems like a sexual pun. Osborne describes herself as “Bushie,” a sexy Barbie-meets-Steve Irwin character who shows plenty of leg and has 152,000 subscribers on YouTube. His previous videos have been viewed millions of times.
As the Prime Minister noted during the podcast, he generally does not invite anyone to the Lodge for an interview.
“All the commercials are going to be sad,” he says to Osborne over whiskey as the pair lounge in armchairs in front of the fireplace.
“Because normally I don’t let anyone in here.”
Why did he let Osborne in? It’s a mysterious question, as is the question of why the media consultants let him do this.
To connect with a younger audience? To demonstrate his originality in an anti-politician age? To reach so-called “low information” voters who turn off mainstream news?
The results of the podcast show how difficult it is for politicians to navigate both legacy media outlets (like this one) and new social media news sources.
I wish he didn’t have to be so stupid. Osborne’s first move for the interview was: “Prime Minister: that’s a bit of an exaggeration, isn’t it?”
The quality of the questions did not improve after this and included questions about whether Albanese was in any WhatsApp groups with “big dog” world leaders; “Do you think most journalism is clickbait now?” and “Would you rather eat shit that tastes like candy or candy that tastes like shit?”
It’s not even unbecoming of the office of Prime Minister, although it certainly is.
This kind of thing doesn’t suit anyone.
At least the Prime Minister refused to answer the question about faecal sugar.
However, he made a joke about Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi bringing a melon as a gift, which made him look both graceless and cautious.
Osborne’s joke is a sort of Benny Hill-slut thing, but it’s unclear whether he’s satirizing the slut trope or just playing with it. He even asked about the Prime Minister’s sex life. He didn’t need to answer, but he did.
In France, they celebrated philosophers discussing politics on television.
One craves patriotism, but it’s hard not to feel ashamed when it’s presented as the cultural product of Australia.
The mini-scandal is the latest in a well-established tradition of (male) prime ministers resorting to light entertainment and getting in trouble for being what one might call “childish”; though the term itself serves the winking nature of this type of humor in which the men are in the club and the women are not.
Scott Morrison resentful actor and activist Pamela Anderson When asked about efforts to free Julian Assange in 2018.
Speaking on a Gold Coast radio station, Morrison joked: “I’ve had a lot of friends ask me if they could be my special envoy to resolve the issue with Pamela Anderson.”
And of course there was Tony Abbott, whose sexist remarks could and probably would fill one of those hipster mini-books they sell on bookstore stalls.
In 2013 he said Liberal candidate Fiona Scott had “sex appeal”, and on another occasion that year he described himself as a “guy with not bad girls”.
In 2014, Abbott appeared on broadcaster Jon Faine’s ABC radio show and took a call from a pensioner named Gloria, who said she was forced to work as a phone sex operator to make ends meet. Video footage shows Abbott winking at Faine. He was scolded for this.
While Albanese was on an official visit to Fiji, his foot soldiers were dispatched to make a statement: Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles and (certainly very reluctant) Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek.
The talking points highlighted Albanese’s credentials in supporting women in both politics and politics. They drew attention to the meeting, the majority of which were women.
“I can say that when it comes to women’s equality in this country, no government has been better at it and no prime minister has been better at it,” Plibersek said on the radio on Monday.
The best advice came from a foreign corner.
One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce said on Monday the prime minister “needs to be smarter than this”.
Joyce said Albanese should respond: “No, no, we can’t answer those kinds of questions. Thank you very much, but no thank you.”
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