Australia has rushed to assure Japan that Anthony Albanese’s controversial comments about their female leader’s melons were not offensive “in the way that has been reported”. “We have been informed by the Australian side that Prime Minister Albanese did not make the comments in the way that has been reported.” Camera Icon Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Japanese counterpart Sanae Takaichi. Camera Icon Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Leader of the Opposition Angus Taylor during Question Time. “I feel for that Prime Minister of Japan, Takaichi, and I think it’s wrong the way she has been treated,” she said.