Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese sat down with comedian Nikki Osbourne (aka Bush Barbie) for an interview this week. And while his confession he’d like to ‘shag, marry and date’ Kylie Minogue made headlines, Drinks Digest was more interested in the whisky that was sipped throughout the interview.
While we’d have preferred the pair to bond over an Aussie spirit, Osbourne took along a bottle of North of 7, a craft whisky from Ontario, Canada.
Known for producing grain-to-glass, Kentucky-bourbon-style Canadian whiskies, North of 7 isn’t readily available in Australia, so our curiosity was piqued. It turns out Osbourne is a big whisky fan, so we’re presuming she bought it on one of her overseas jaunts.
Osbourne also scored a can of Albo’s personalised beer during the interview, which was served at the PM’s wedding to Jodie Haydon in November last year. The lager was created by Willie the Boatman, a craft brewery in Sydney’s Inner West.
The interview took place at The Lodge in Canberra, with Osbourne noting as she walked into the building: “Now a lot of you have been saying I should be the next PM, and you’re right, I should be, however, I reckon it would be a tough gig because no matter how good your intentions are, half the population are gonna hate your guts.
“I wanted to find out what that’s like. So, I got on Instagram and DM’d the PM and said, hey Albo, can you give me the dirt on what it’s like being a world leader, and he said, sure Bushie, come to my joint and I’ll give you the rundown over some Tim Tams. So, here I am, in Canberra, at the Prime Minister’s house, to find out if world leadership is, in fact, for me!”
The interview explored topics including the PM’s disdain for social media, whether he’s in group chats with world leaders, his toughest career moments and more.
As for the ‘shag, marry or date’ furor, Osborne played the popular game with the PM, asking: “Kylie Minogue, Nicole Kidman or Rhonda Burchmore?”
Albanese replied: “I’ve just got married, I’m only six months in …”
Osborne responded: “But if it goes t*ts up?”
Abanese replied: “Kylie, clearly.”
“You’d marry Kylie? And shag her? And date her?” Osbourne asked.
“All of the above. She’s terrific,” Albanese said.
Independent Fowler MP Dai Le told the Today show the remarks were “unbecoming of a gentleman”.
“In parliament we’re not supposed to use certain words,” she said.
“I will find that very unbecoming of a gentleman, but maybe the prime minister is trying to appeal to another group, a target audience that don’t mind that kind of language being used.”
Make up your own mind by watching the interview below:
