PM apologises after response to shag, date or marry question

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has apologised over his response to a question during a podcast interview where he was asked who he would “shag, marry or date”.

The nation’s leader was asked to choose between Kylie Minogue, Nicole Kidman or Rhonda Burchmore in a sit-down with Nova’s Bush Deep at The Lodge in Canberra last week.

“I’ve just got married, I’m only six months in,” he said.

The host, Nikki Osborne, pressed the prime minister on what his answer would be if he were not married.

“Oh, Kylie, clearly,” he said.

“You’d marry Kylie and shag her and date her?” Osborne said.

“All of the above. She’s terrific,” he said.

The Prime Minister was sharply criticised for his remarks, and he offered an apology on Monday morning.

“I apologise unequivocally for the comments,” Albanese said via a short statement from his office.

Asked about what she thought of the segment, independent Fowler MP Dai Le said the prime minister’s remarks were “unbecoming of a gentleman”.

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“In parliament we’re not supposed to use certain words,” she told Today.

“I will find that very unbecoming of a gentleman, but maybe the prime minister is trying to appeal to another group, a target audience that don’t mind that kind of language being used.”

Albanese and Jodie Haydon were married after five years together in an intimate ceremony at The Lodge in Canberra in November.

By doing so, he became the first prime minister to wed during their time in office.

The pair bought a $4.3 million property together in the NSW Central Coast last year.

Earlier in the podcast, Albanese said he and Jodie are still happily in the honeymoon phase.