Australian PM Albanese Apologises for Hot-Mic Comments
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Anthony Albanese is the Prime Minister of Australia. He was at UN climate talks in Turkey. A microphone recorded him talking. He did not know people could hear him.
Albanese was talking with Chris Bowen. Bowen is another Australian minister. They talked about mobile phones. They talked about phone radiation. People could hear their private words.
The Coalition is a group of Australian politicians. They did not like the talk. They called it 'locker-room talk'. A locker-room talk means private talk between men.
Albanese said sorry. He said he and Bowen were just joking. He called it 'light-hearted banter'. Banter means friendly joking talk.
Albanese said he regretted the moment. He said people should not have heard it. He said it was a private talk, not a public one.
Vocabulary15 words
- Prime Minister
- the leader of a country's government
- hot-mic
- when a microphone records people without them knowing
- gaffe
- a small mistake that is embarrassing
- radiation
- energy that comes from some devices, like phones
- locker-room talk
- private, informal talk between men, often about personal things
- banter
- friendly joking talk between people
- Coalition
- a group of political parties working together
- apologise
- to say sorry
- regret
- to feel sorry about something you did
- candid
- honest and open, not hiding anything
- overheard
- to hear something by accident, not on purpose
- minister
- an important person who works in the government
- climate talks
- meetings where leaders discuss the environment
- criticise
- to say something is bad or wrong
- conversation
- when two or more people talk together
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Quiz
Answer key
1. Chris Bowen 2. Mobile phones and radiation 3. False
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Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
Anthony Albanese is the Prime Minister of _____. He was at UN climate talks in _____.
A _____ recorded him talking. He did not know people could _____ him.
Albanese was talking with Chris _____. They talked about mobile phones and _____.
The _____ did not like the talk. They called it 'locker-room talk'.
Albanese said he and Bowen were just _____. He called it 'light-hearted banter'.
Albanese said he _____ the moment. He said it was a _____ talk, not a public one.
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