Albanese returns to comedy in social media clip after podcast backlash

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has appeared in a scripted comedy clip with social media duo Swag on the Beat.

In the sketch, he plays a girlfriend’s protective father and jokes that he could reinstate her boyfriend’s HECS debt if the boyfriend breaks her heart.

The clip was posted on Friday and had more than 90,000 Instagram likes by Saturday morning.

Albanese is continuing his social media outreach to younger voters despite criticism over his appearance on the Bush Deep podcast in July.

He apologised after making a crude comment about singer Kylie Minogue, and later faced criticism over a remark about melons given to him by Japan’s prime minister.

Albanese denied making a sexual innuendo, and Japan’s ambassador publicly played down that controversy.

The energy minister said politicians should use social media to communicate with Australians, sometimes in a lighter way.