news.today
Hello · Register today | LoginHello · My Account[—] [33]
World

PM apologises for crude joke caught on hot mic at climate summit

Summarised from 3 outlets · 16 reports · Updated 15 Nov, 05:26 · Archive

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has apologised for a crude joke about phone radiation caught on a live microphone at the COP31 climate summit in Turkey.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese apologised on Sunday for a crude joke with Energy Minister Chris Bowen that was caught on a live microphone at the COP31 climate summit in Turkey on Friday.

The pair were waiting for a business roundtable on investment when Albanese began asking Bowen where he kept his mobile phone. Albanese warned against keeping it in a jacket pocket, claiming it could interfere with the heart. Bowen replied that he had stopped carrying his phone in his pants pockets. Albanese then asked, 'Because of your dick?', prompting laughter from both as the exchange was picked up by a live microphone and later broadcast by Channel Seven.

Addressing the controversy for the first time, Albanese said he regretted the comment and apologised. 'This was a private conversation, we thought, between two friends having a bit of light-hearted banter,' he said. 'That happens and no one was hurt or harmed.'

Opposition frontbencher James Paterson called the remarks unfortunate and said they did not create a good impression for Australia on the world stage. 'Locker-room talk like that has a time and a place and it's not at international summits when you're the prime minister of Australia talking to your energy minister,' he told News24 on Sunday. 'If you want to engage in that kind of banter, do it at a private barbecue, not before the assembled media at an international conference.'

Cabinet minister Amanda Rishworth defended the prime minister, saying it was a private conversation between meetings. 'I know that a hot-mic incident is very exciting for people, but really, there are bigger issues to tackle and discuss,' she said. 'It was a private conversation, a private joke, and I'm sure many Australians have used that word in private before.' She declined to comment on whether such jokes were common in cabinet.

The incident occurred as Australia, the summit president, was promoting renewable energy investment opportunities and the Pacific Resilience Facility, which reached a $293 million funding milestone at the event.

PM apologises for crude joke caught on hot mic at climate summit
Image: WAtoday

Comments (0)

How it is being reported

In this story: Anthony Albanese · Chris Bowen · James Paterson · Amanda Rishworth · COP31 · Turkey

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log