Deportations a ‘black spot’
Winston Peters may have started a tradition when he pulled out all the stops to charm Australia’s former foreign minister Julie Bishop during her visit last year.
Peters treated Bishop to dinner at his house in Auckland’s St Mary’s Bay before hosting her at a Waiheke Island winery for the official part of their talks.
Bishop’s successor, Marise Payne, does not carry the same charisma or come with the same fearsome reputation as Bishop.
However Peters pulled out all the stops again with dinner at his home, and a Waiheke winery as the backdrop to their talks, which were also attended by the spy bosses of both countries and other heavy hitters including new Foreign Affairs boss Chris Seed. The charm offensive with Bishop came as both countries were tip-toeing around each other warily, after the change of government on this side of the Tasman ripped open some stillfresh wounds over Bishop’s preelection barbs about being unable to trust a Labour government.
It worked to a point; the chemistry between Peters and Bishop was clear and Ardern even joined them at Peters’ home in what looked like an impromptu moment, but was more likely plotted out for days.
But the show of friendship may have only been skin deep. Bishop’s return this weekend almost overshadowed Payne.
And Bishop’s appearance at a National Party caucus – with her publicly-stated aim to help National get back into power – would have ruffled a few feathers, even if Peters refused to show it.
But if anything, it underscored the importance of Peters getting a read-out from Payne ahead of her boss, new Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, coming here in a couple of weeks.
As Peters pointed out, Morrison should understand New Zealand better than any of his predecessors. He lived here for several years and worked for the Government, at the-then office of Tourism and Sport. But there is no sign that Morrison’s relationship with New Zealand will lead to a softening in Australia’s hardline deportation policy or in fact in its handling of Kiwi expats, who have long considered themselves second class citizens in Australia.
Peters expected the ongoing irritant in the relationship to be a major point of discussion between Morrison and Ardern at their meeting in Auckland and he raised New Zealand’s frustration over the issue in his talks with Payne. The most recent case of a Cook Island man to be deported to New Zealand despite never having set foot here has exacerbated tensions. Wichman Uriaere, 26, was handed a prison sentence of more than 12 months, grounds for automatic deportation. But his only connection with New Zealand is his passport, which he got by virtue of his Cook Islands birth.
Peters said he made it clear to Payne that cases like Uriaere undermined the credibility of Australia’s deportation policy, which the New Zealand foreign affairs minister referred to as a ‘‘black spot’’ in the relationship.
Payne had promised to take Peters’ concerns to ‘‘the highest sectors of Australian political judgment’’ – meaning the Australian prime minister, he said. But there was clearly no commitment from Payne beyond that.