Anthony Albanese apologises ‘unequivocally’ for podcast comment about Kylie Minogue

Anthony Albanese has apologised “unequivocally” for his comments while playing a “shag, marry, date” game on a comedy podcast when he nominated Kylie Minogue for all three categories.

The prime minister issued a statement on Monday morning after receiving criticism at the weekend for his appearance on the Bush Deep podcast with the comedian Nikki Osborne.

Amid a lighthearted interview released late last week, in which topics included Albanese’s dog and gifts he’d received from world leaders, the host asked Albanese in a “rapid fire” question round to place Kylie Minogue, Nicole Kidman and Rhonda Burchmore in a “shag, marry, date” game.

Albanese was initially reluctant, responding: “I just got married, I’m only six months in.”

Osborne replied: “But if it goes tits up, let’s just pretend.”

Albanese then responded: “Kylie, clearly.”

Osborne persisted: “You’d marry Kylie, and shag her, and date her?”

Albanese replied “all of the above”, adding: “She’s terrific.”

In another part of the interview, Osborne asked whether Albanese and his wife, Jodie Haydon, were “bonking like rabbits”. Albanese replied jokingly: “Well, when we have time.

“After the footy. It’s always a good aphrodisiac, a Souths [Sydney Rabbitohs] win.”

On Monday morning the prime minister’s office released a one-line statement from Albanese, in which he said: “I apologise unequivocally for the comments.”

In addition to more serious interviews with mainstream media platforms, politicians are increasingly seeking to engage with new media outlets and social media creators in order to reach new audiences.

Politicians across the political spectrum regularly conduct more lighthearted interviews with podcasters and online channels, as well as FM radio networks.

Albanese was in Fiji on Monday for a leader’s meeting with the country’s prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka. He was due to travel to Solomon Islands this week to meet that country’s leader, before returning to Brisbane to host the leaders of Tonga and Papua New Guinea at the rugby league State of Origin decider.

He was reportedly criticised by politicians including the independent Zali Steggall and the Liberal shadow minister Sarah Henderson for the podcast comments. The Australian newspaper reported that Steggall had said it was “entirely inappropriate for the prime minister to participate in such a game” and Albanese should “learn to push back, lead by example and call it out as sexist”.

Henderson reportedly said Albanese’s remarks were “disrespectful to women, embarrassing to Australians, and demean the office of Prime Minister”.

The acting prime minister, Richard Marles, defended Albanese’s record on gender equality when asked about the interview, which he said was a “different” kind of conversation than the ones politicians normally had.

“The Prime Minister has apologised unequivocally, so that’s the first point to make,” he told Radio National. “I think from time to time we do interviews, which are obviously different to the one that you and I are doing now.

“The government that the prime minister leads is the first government in our nation’s history which has had an equality in terms of the numbers of men and women in cabinet. It’s the first government ever to have had a majority of women in the caucus. Under this government the gender pay gap is the lowest that it has ever been on record. I mean, our prime minister is utterly committed to the place of women within our society and the elevation of women in our society.”

The Liberal frontbencher Andrew Bragg, also speaking on Radio National, said Albanese’s remarks were “beneath his office … he shouldn’t have said them.”