PM says he talks with his hands has he doubles down on melon defence

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has explained away his now-infamous melons gaffe on a podcast as being down to the way he sits on chairs.

Speaking to reporters in Canberra on Friday, he was once again forced to explain the gesture he made while talking about royal melons gifted to him by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during a Bush Deep podcast interview in June.

“I reiterate the fact that the interpretation that some have put on it was not correct,” he said.

Albanese said he does not do sit-down interviews with his arms crossed and did not push back on the host’s remark about melons because two people often talk at once during podcasts.

“When I give interviews, anyone who has sat down with me, and there’s a bit of footage of me doing interviews, sitting on chairs, will see that I don’t do them with my arms crossed,” he said.

“And so, certainly, as the interpretation that some have put on this is simply not correct, and the Japanese ambassador has made that clear as well.”

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PM says referral of melons document leak to federal police is ‘political stunt’

A clip of the moment Albanese made a gesture with both hands in front of his chest when talking about a royal melon gifted by Takaichi during her recent visit to Australia resurfaced this week after the Japanese ambassador to Australia wrote an opinion column in The Australian saying the joke was “sexist” and “ungracious”.

The Australian also reported seeing a document from the Japanese government to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet about the “sensationalised reporting in the Australian media” and believed there was no “ill intention”.

The Coalition have since referred the matter to the AFP for investigation, accusing the government of the suspected illegal leaking of a confidential document to the media to downplay the situation.

Shadow defence minister James Paterson’s motion in the Senate to call for Labor to produce the document in question and all the internal correspondence about the gaffe by Monday was supported across the political spectrum.

The Greens, independent Senator David Pocock and One Nation supported the motion.

Paterson said: “It’s not often the Coalition, the Greens, David Pocock and One Nation agree on something. No one believes Albanese’s denials. I don’t even think he does.”

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The three topics dominating the national conversation as parliament resumes

Albanese has repeatedly refused to apologise for the melon moment, which he denies, when asked by his opponents in parliament this week.

Instead, he has talked up the strength of the relationship with Takaichi and Japan.