Aussies have unleashed on Anthony Albanese after the Prime Minister featured in a video promoting a Filipino fast-food chain that is set to enter the Australian market.
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that → unleash → market
Albanese shared a slick, ten-second promotional clip of his visit to a Jollibee location in Manila on Sunday while in the Philippines for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit.
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Albanese → share → summit
The chain, best known for its fried chicken and spaghetti, is set to open 35 stores across NSW and Victoria in the next five years.
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chain → know → years
The Prime Minister's video showed him grinning as a gigantic bee dressed in a tuxedo delivers him a bucket of chicken.
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bee → show → chicken
He then picks up a leg and stares directly into the camera before chowing down on a burger and milkshake.
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He → pick → burger
Comments under Albanese's post were largely negative, with some noting that it 'couldn't look more like AI'.
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it → note → AI
'Is this even real?' one person said.
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person → say → ?
'I immediately thought it was AI,' added another.
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another → think → ?
Others asked why the Prime Minister was promoting a foreign company when Australian businesses were struggling due to higher operational costs.
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businesses → ask → costs
'Small businesses are closing and you're gleefully bragging about some multinational corporation opening in our country,' one wrote.
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one → close → country
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (above) shared a video visiting a Jollibee store in Manilla on Sunday
His visit marked a franchise deal for the fast-food chain to open stores in NSW and Victoria
'
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chain → share → NSW
Since when does the government market corporations?' another commenter said, while a third suggested: 'Surely you have more important things to do?'
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you → market → things
Others vented their frustrations over inflation: 'Wow, a lovely fast-food place coming to Australia?
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place → vent → Australia
When can I afford basic groceries?'
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I → afford → groceries
Albanese travelled to ASEAN straight from the UN climate summit COP31 in Antalya, Turkey, where he suffered another embarrassing incident when a crude comment was caught on a hot mic.
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comment → travel → mic
The Prime Minister had been chatting with Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen on a panel when the pair were heard joking that mobile phones should not be kept in breast or pants pockets due to radiation.
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phones → chat → radiation
'Because of your d***?' Albanese said, prompting a laughing Bowen to reply: 'That's rather important... arguably more important than the heart.'
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That → say → heart
Albanese visited the fast-food store on Sunday alongside Jollibee Global President and CEO Ernesto Tanmantiong to announce the first two franchise agreements for stores in Australia.
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Albanese → visit → Australia
He said the deal to open restaurants on Australian shores would bring a much-loved 'taste of home for so many Filipino-Australians' and that it would create 'hundreds of jobs' for Australians.
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it → say → Australians
Jollibee currently operates more than 1,600 stores across 17 countries.
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Jollibee → operate → countries
Plans for the chain to enter the Australian market were rumoured in 2022 when it lodged a development application to build a store in Campbelltown, south-west Sydney.
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it → enter → Campbelltown
Albanese claimed the fast-food giant's 35 new Australian stores would creates 'hundreds of jobs'
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stores → claim → jobs
Australians questioned why Albanese was promoting the Filipino business while Australian businesses struggled with higher operational costs
Campbelltown is now confirmed to be the first Jollibee Australia location, though an opening date has not been announced.
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date → question → costs
Filipinos are Australia's fifth-largest diaspora community, with more than 400,000 people born in the Philippines now living in Australia.
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people → bear → Australia
Albanese claimed the stores would create hundreds of roles in retail, logistics and product supply.
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stores → claim → retail
'Jollibee is a familiar name for many Filipino Australians and we want to see more businesses choose Australia as a place to grow and succeed.
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businesses → want → place
I welcome investment that supports Australian jobs and strengthens our economic partnerships,' he said.
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he → welcome → partnerships
'Food brings people together, and Jollibee is a great example of the cultural connections that strengthen our relationship with the Philippines.
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that → bring → Philippines
Also on Sunday at ASEAN, Australia and the Philippines signed a new defence pact aimed at fast-tracking military co-operation and 'bolstering deterrence' in a region marked by China's growing military presence.
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Australia → sign → presence
The agreement, which updates a decades-old memorandum, was signed on the sidelines of a leaders' meeting in Manila, with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in attendance.
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which → update → attendance
Manila and Canberra have steadily increased defence co-operation in recent years, including joint maritime patrols in the strategically vital South China Sea and land-based military exercises.
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Manila → increase → Sea
Australia and the Philippines signed a new defence pact at ASEAN on Sunday
US ally the Philippines has been engaged in years of confrontations with China over disputed areas of the South China Sea.
Beijing claims nearly the entirety of the crucial waterway despite an international ruling that its position has no legal basis.
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position → sign → basis
'The agreement makes us faster, speedier.
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us → make → ?
It streamlines the coordination process,' Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro told reporters after Sunday's ceremony.
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Teodoro → streamline → ceremony
'It will bolster our credible deterrent posture in areas where we have jurisdiction,' he said, referring to contested areas of the South China Sea.
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he → bolster → Sea
Australia and the Philippines have had a visiting forces agreement in place since 2012, allowing their troops to train on each other's territory.
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troops → have → territory
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said in a later statement the pact would 'deepen practical cooperation between our defence forces and create new opportunities to work together in support of regional security'.
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pact → say → security
The statement outlined enhanced maritime activities, information-sharing and defence infrastructure development as key elements of the new agreement.
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statement → outline → agreement
Marles said at an ASEAN defence chiefs' summit in the Philippines last month that China's military build-up was creating a 'condition of pressure' in South-East Asia, and urged allies and partners to deepen co-operation.
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up → say → operation
The Aporia
