Stand by your van: Anthony Albanese recounts saving Dolly Parton's Australian tour

Dolly Parton's Australian tour took more than a cup of ambition.

Dolly Parton pictured last November. Her 2011 tour of Australia was almost cancelled, until Anthony Albanese intervened. Source: Getty / Brandon Sloter

Anthony Albanese has recounted how he brought Dolly Parton's Australian tour back from the brink — by standing by her vans.

Speaking to ABC Radio on Friday — Parton's 78th birthday — the prime minister covered the supermarket price-gouging review and stage three tax cuts before the conversation pivoted to country music.

The Australian leg of the rhinestone cowgirl's world tour in 2011 almost fell apart when customs and road authorities took issue with her two massive tour buses, but was saved when then-transport minister Albanese intervened.

"Dolly Parton doesn’t like flying around," Albanese told ABC Radio. "So she has a bus that is larger than the regulations and the bureaucrats say is not allowed on New South Wales roads and on roads in Australia, so I intervened and said 'for goodness sake, surely going from A to B with Dolly Parton’s bus [should be allowed]'."

Dolly Parton's former tour bus at the Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Source: Getty / The Washington Post

Parton, who when discussing her fear of flying in a 2018 interview said she doesn't "want to go no higher up than pulling corn and no lower down than pickin' taters", no longer tours, but travelled and lived in a 14.5-metre bus when she did, while a second bus provided back-up.

Ahead of the 2011 tour, customs said one of the buses was too large, while road authorities took issue with the fact its doors opened onto traffic, having been designed for United States roads, according to a News.com.au report at the time.

"I got to have a look inside, it's a bit more than a bus, she lives in there basically," Albanese said.

"It's quite luxurious, but it's longer and wider than a normal bus here, and so I intervened as the federal transport minister and her tour went ahead.

"I got to meet Dolly and to go to her gig there out at Homebush and I've got to say, it was fantastic.

"She is a great entertainer and so happy birthday, Dolly."

Anthony Albanese in 2011 when he was the federal transport minister. Source: AAP / Alan Porritt

Parton at the time gave special thanks to Albanese, saying he "was so good to make sure we got my buses here".

"He was so good to make sure we got my buses here ... Now I don’t know if he’s here today but if he is you can come up here and I’ll smear lip gloss all over you," she said while on tour.

Albanese, who described himself as "a rock and roll guy and an indie rock and roll guy", gained a reputation for moonlighting as a DJ after he hosted an episode of ABC's Rage in 2013.