Peters drawn into leadership stoush
Foreign Minster Winston Peters has flown into the middle of a leadership stoush in Australia where his call for a ‘‘fair suck of the sav’’ for Kiwi expats will likely fall on deaf ears.
Peters and his Australian counterpart Julie Bishop fronted a media conference yesterday as the ructions over Aussie hardliner Peter Dutton’s leadership bid continued.
Peters made reference to the leadership spill, noting that their meeting took place against the backdrop of a ‘‘most curious and unusual time’’ in Australian politics.
There is no love lost between New Zealand and Dutton, who has been uncompromising over the plight of Kiwi detainees.
Dutton has accused New Zealand of freeloading on Australia’s efforts to deter boat people and has been scathing of Jacinda Ardern’s government over the offer to take asylum seekers detained on Nauru.
New Zealand can expect an even harder line if Dutton replaces Turnbull as prime minister in another leadership vote.
Peters delivered a speech to the National Press Club in Canberra yesterday, calling on Australia to give New Zealand a ‘‘fair suck of the sav’’ and reminding them of our shared history and close trans-Tasman ties.
But he refused to bite when he was repeatedly grilled by journalists about the leadership spill, barking: ‘‘I think you’re at the wrong press conference.’’
He and Bishop focused on the purpose of their talks about the Pacific, ahead of the Pacific Forum next month.
There was an awkward moment, however, when Bishop clearly wanted to bring the questions to an end, after being asked if she had been working the phones in preparation for another leadership vote.
‘‘I have been in a meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand and Winston can attest that during that meeting I’ve not made one phone call,’’ Bishop said.
She said she urged her colleagues to accept the result of Tuesday night’s vote, which backed Turnbull as leader and herself as deputy though not by a huge margin.
Dutton is expected to have another tilt at the leadership and there is rising speculation that Turnbull will lose the next vote.
Bishop then tried to wrap things up: ‘‘On that point, the Deputy Prime Minister and I are leaving because he’s got a very important speech to make.’’
She tapped Peters on the shoulder, and joked ‘‘I’m trying to bump you off stage’’, suggesting ‘‘we’re a tag team here and I called last question’’ when he appeared to be staying put.
But Peters said he couldn’t leave because there was another question. ‘‘She’s a female I’ve got to answer the question,’’ Peters told her.
‘‘Did you really just say that?’’ Bishop asked. Peters replied: ‘‘I’ll look like a chauvinist.’’
In his speech to the press club, Peters acknowledged that while the two countries were close ‘‘that does not mean we always agree with one another’’.
‘‘While we understand and respect your Government’s right to set its own policies on foreign criminals, many New Zealanders question the deportation of Kiwi passport holders to a country they may never really have known because they left at such a young age.’’