Boris blown away by NZ
Boris Johnson shares much with Donald Trump.
Big hair. A larger-than-life personality. A desire to shock.
The one thing they don’t have in common is a trigger-happy Twitter finger (Johnson has even lamented the fact that he can’t roam free on Twitter like the Donald).
So it’s probably not surprising that Johnson’s visit to New Zealand has sparked more interest than is usual for a British Foreign Secretary.
The towheaded Brit touched down in Wellington on Sunday evening and spent yesterday morning in Kaikoura to thank the locals for supporting 200 British expats caught in the big earthquake.
His visit is largely a flag-waving one - it’s supposed to demonstrate that the Brits are back after a near absence of importance in the region in recent decades.
It’s also a demonstration to the domestic audience back home that Britain is reconnecting with the Commonwealth to fill the vacuum left by Brexit.
It’s a measure of how far Britain’s influence in the region has waned, however, that Johnson’s counterpart, United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, made it to New Zealand first.
Of the two, it’s no mystery which visit is more significant for New Zealand.
Tillerson’s presence here so early in the life of the Trump administration was a significant and important signal about the state of relations between New Zealand and the US.
Johnson’s visit? Not so much. It’s a given that as a Commonwealth country we would expect relations to be warm between our two countries though Britain’s commitment has waxed and waned since it joined the European Union.
In fact, were it not for Johnson’s colourful and flamboyant personality, his visit would merit about as much attention as his predecessors, William Hague in 2013 and Philip Hammond in 2015.
But there are two important reasons why we should care more.
Johnson’s is the name most commonly linked to speculation about who will replace Theresa May if she is rolled as leader of the Conservative Party. And, Johnson is on record as being a friend of New Zealand and Australia.
That will count - not just when it comes to striking trade deals in Britain’s post-Brexit world, but also to enshrine the traditional rite of passage for young Kiwis, the big OE to Britain.
Johnson can expect both issues to come up in his talks with his counterpart, Gerry Brownlee, and Prime Minister Bill English today.
Expect lots of positive statements about a trade deal.
The Brits are in the mood to do deals (though it must wait till the Brexit process is over and that’s still two years away).
Johnson has just left Japan where he promised an ‘‘all singing, all dancing’’ free trade deal with the Japanese.
But no-one should get too excited that a deal with New Zealand is just around the corner. It’s not just the process that stands in the way of a quick deal.
We are not big enough to be a priority for Britain given that it is scrambling to make up ground fast once it is out of the EU.
And, any trade deal with us would likely encounter opposition from the notoriously hostile British agriculture lobby.
Johnson might find it easier to make good on his previously vocal support for the Kiwi OE - though not much.
He has long advocated for the right of Kiwis and Australians to work and travel freely in Britain.
But that’s easy to say as the former Lord Mayor of London, not so easy to do as Foreign Secretary juggling Britain’s pro-nationalist, anti-immigration mood postBrexit.
The current mood is to tighten access, not liberalise it.
But even if Johnson may not be bearing many gifts on his visit Down Under, we can enjoy the theatre.