Ease up, Oz, or you can forget the Toffee Pops
Of all the world leaders, Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters perhaps best summarised United States President Donald Trump’s comments after his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I’m bemused, we’re all confused, we’re all bewildered,” Peters said after Trump appeared to side with Putin over his own intelligence agencies on the issue of Russian interference in US elections.
Trump subsequently applied damage control in the form of the word “not” to but Peters’ summary remained accurate.
It is also the perfect way to describe the confused state in world affairs in which nobody is quite sure what side they are on any more.
There was Trump’s bawling out of the Nato countries just before that meeting with Putin, his comments about Brexit and the merits of Boris Johnson as a possible Prime Minister on his visit to the UK. And his referring to the EU as a “foe” in trade.
As is often the case, some find solace from the uncertainty in absurdity.
There were placards in Britain such as “this is all terribly upsetting” and one pleading with the Queen not to give Trump the “good biscuits”. Then came analysis of whether the Queen was giving Trump the side-eye in her brooch choice during his time in Britain.
The South Pacific is not immune from this blurring of lines between foes and old allies. New Zealand too is on the brink of withholding the good biscuits.
In our case it’s from Australia, because of Australia’s policy of deporting people it does not like the look of, whether or not they have been convicted of crimes.
As Opposition leader, Justice Minister Andrew Little accused the then National Government of pussy-footing round with Australia, especially on the deportee issue.
This week the ABC’s Foreign Correspondent featured a story on the deportees policy in which Little hit out at Australia for “venal politics”.
He accused the Ockers of lacking humanitarian ideals and believing they could bypass the processes that should apply in any decent, first world country which claimed to uphold the rule of law.
He questioned Immigration Minister Peter Dutton’s Caesar-like power to make final decisions on people’s fates without the right to appeal or review.
It had come to a head with the case of the 17-year-old being held in an adult immigration detention centre.
The teen was released this week after a hearing by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and sent back to his family in Australia after four months in detention. His fate now rests in the hands of Dutton, who can overturn the tribunal’s ruling.
It came on top of Little accusing Australia of bungling the extradition process, resulting in extraditees being sent back to New Zealand without facing trial. His wingman in this effort is Peters. Peters has been criticised for giving Russia and Trump the benefit of the doubt on occasion, but he did Australia no such favours. He made it clear the relationship could be in trouble, adding it was at a time when the two nations needed to be close.
Peters had also lambasted Australia a fortnight ago for breaching human rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Thus far the attempts to shame our neighbour have fallen on deaf ears — Dutton has dismissed it as “emotion” and said Australia can do what it wants.
As yet there is no talk of retaliatory measures, partly because to pay back in kind would not be practising what New Zealand is preaching. It is also because New Zealand Governments live in fear of Australia clawing back freedom of movement. New Zealand still needs Australia more than it needs us.
But this Government is less squeamish about such things than the previous.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has even previously said New Zealand would retaliate if Australia went ahead with the now abandoned proposal for Kiwis to pay international student fees in Australia.
The two nations have repeatedly described the relationship as “family”.
And the deportees’ issue is just the latest in an ever-growing list of grievances in the power imbalance between the two.
Relying on our shared military history does not cut it any more. Little’s efforts are akin to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to impose tariffs on the US. “We’re polite, we’re reasonable, but we also will not be pushed around.”
Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull need not expect the Toffee Pops if there is no give by the time the next leaders’ meeting is held in New Zealand.