Albanese's office won't release documents on his Bush Deep podcast

The office of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s has officially denied the release of a document about his controversial appearance on the Bush Deep podcast earlier this year.

The Australian this morning reports that it requested a range of documents under Freedom of Information legislation, “including social media messages that Albanese exchanged with Bush Deep podcast host Nikki Osborne, but his office said it only had one document that met this brief and it would not hand it over.” 

READ MORE: 'I wouldn't have done that podcast': Albo regrets doing 'Bush Deep'

READ MORE: Nikki Osbourne spills about Albo's comments on her pod to Mark Bouris
 

Request for documents on Albanese's Bush Deep podcast

Albanese has since admitted it was an “error” to appear on the Bush Deep podcast, where he made inappropriate comments about Kylie Minogue and the Japanese Prime Minister, which led to headline news for weeks.

In an interview with Sarah Ferguson on 7.30 which aired in August, he said:

“I learned that I need to do better every day, and of course, if I had my time again, which you don’t, then I wouldn’t have done that podcast.

"You know, we have a view which is [we’re] trying to talk to as many people as possible, but clearly that was an error.”

The Labor leader was responding to intense backlash to his podcast comments about his sex life, a reference to Sanae Takaichi’s gift of royal melons, and his response to a game of “shag, marry, date”.

Now, The Australian says that “almost four months after the interview was published in July, and two months after the FOI ­request was made, the Prime Minister’s office revealed on Monday night it would not release information about the saga on public-safety grounds.”

The outlet reported on Friday morning that it was told in response to the application:

“Protection of public safety section 37(1)(c) of the act provides for the exemption of documents that, if disclosed, would, or could reasonably be expected to, endanger the life or physical safety of any person.

“I am satisfied that one of the identified documents, if disclosed, could endanger the physical safety of the Prime Minister, staff and visitors to the Lodge by disclosing security protocols and methodologies”.

The masthead explains that it had asked for “any documents, emails, records or social media messages from June to September that detailed the arrangement of the interview,” including “vetting processes or forms the Bush Deep team had to complete to conduct the interview with the Prime Minister in his private residence at the The Lodge."

Osborne spoke to entrepreneur Mark Bouris in August on his podcast, claiming that when she reached out to invite Albanese on her show, “he got back to me straight away, and went, ‘sure, sounds like fun.”

She added, “He’s watched the show, he knows my podcast. So he knew what he was coming into.”

Osborne also claimed that entering The Lodge, where the interview was held, was easy.

“That was bizarre going down in my khaki frock with my legs and my cleavage hanging out, my pith helmet on, walking into the Lodge.

“(I) went through all the security, but they didn’t ask me for my ID or anything because it was just ‘Oh, you’re Bush Barbie'.”