Australia’s opposition leader has called for Albanese to apologise over the “insulting” comments.
Asked whether he would say sorry for his “disrespectful behaviour” in parliament on Tuesday, the Australian leader said: “I reject the assertion in the question.”
The comments prompted some outrage on social media in Japan, where Takaichi became the country’s first woman prime minister last year.
“I’m not a supporter of the Liberal Democratic Party or a defender of the current government, but this is really awful. It’s disrespectful towards our prime minister,” said one X user.
“Sure this guy’s remarks are unbelievable. On top of that, it suggests how he thinks it’s OK to treat Takaichi – or Japan for that matter – this crudely,” said another.
Some were also offended by the perceived insult to Japanese fruit, with the variety of melon in question costing upwards of 30,000 yen (US$190).
“Don’t you dare think the Australian fruits and ours are the same. Ignorance is pathetic,” said one social media comment.
Albanese for his part qualified his comments, saying that the fruit “ended up being quite good”.
