Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen have been recorded making small talk about phone radiation and “dicks” in a candid moment caught on camera at this year’s global climate conference.
The exchange was picked up with a hot mic on Friday as the pair chatted while waiting to start a roundtable discussion about business investment at this year’s COP31 climate conference in the Turkish town of Antalya.
The prime minister’s office brushed off the incident after Channel Seven was first to broadcast the clip on Friday evening (AEDT), having picked up on the conversation during the production process.
According to the footage, which started recording before Albanese and Bowen made their official remarks, the prime minister put his phone in his jacket pocket and asked Bowen whether he was right-handed. He then told Bowen that he should store his phone away from his heart because “it can interfere with your rhythm”.
Bowen jokingly asked whether it was because it was “a little bit radioactive?” to which Albanese said yes, “it makes absolute sense”.
The climate change minister said he was more conscious of putting his phone in his pants pocket. The prime minister asked: “Because of your dick?”
Bowen agreed. “Arguably more important than the heart,” he said.
A spokesman for the prime minister said: “They were having a joke in between meetings.”
Friday’s event was held to discuss business opportunities with Australian agencies and both current and potential investors in the country’s renewable energy transition.
“Trade and investment components of these annual climate meetings are absolutely critical,” Albanese said in his opening remarks. “It’s how we turn the commitments that we want to make into actions and outcomes, and capitalise on the opportunity which is before us.”
Australia’s involvement in this year’s COP has attracted heightened scrutiny because the federal government is co-hosting the event with Turkey. Bowen has taken on a new role as president of negotiations – a position he secured after Australia lost its bid to host the event in Adelaide.
Albanese arrived in Antalya on Wednesday for the conference leaders summit. He left Turkey shortly after Friday’s business roundtable, and will head straight to the Philippines for the ASEAN summit. Bowen will stay in Antalya and lead negotiations between 190 countries until the end of next week.
Hot mic moments involving the Australian prime minister have drawn attention since former prime minister Tony Abbott and then home affairs minister Peter Dutton were caught in 2015 joking about “water lapping” at Pacific islands threatened by rising sea levels.
While the pair didn’t know they were being recorded, the comments were damaging to Australia’s reputation in the Pacific.
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