Julie Bishop does the soft shoe shuffle after Jacinda Ardern meeting

If clothes make the man, do shoes make the woman?

Jacinda Ardern and Julie Bishop in Auckland.

If clothes make the man, do shoes make the woman? Asking the question of Julie Bishop may earn you a trademarked Death Stare from the Foreign Minister, as one Kiwi journo discovered at the weekend. J-Bish was in Auckland to meet her NZ counterpart, Winston Peters, who hosted a Friday night soiree ahead of their official talks. One late addition to the guest list was Jacinda Ardern, who popped along to casa del Winston after an earlier engagement in casual attire. Both women posted the same photo on Instagram, with Ardern at pains to confirm she was wearing merino wool shoes, “not slippers”. Bishop was later asked if she had spoken to Ardern about her comfy clogs — cue the Death Stare™. “Seriously? Well, now that you ask, yes, we did discuss her footwear,” Bishop deadpanned. “She had been at a conference and was dressed casually and she told me she was wearing a New Zealand brand of footwear, I understand 100 per cent merino wool and labelled the comfiest shoes in the world. So I had shoe envy at that stage.” Bishop said the pair had a “delightful and in-depth conversation” about a range of matters — though she claims they didn’t revisit last year’s kerfuffle over cheeky NZ Labour MPs raising Barnaby Joyce’scitizenship — and also discussed “a lot of matters of contemporary interest” as female politicians. Oh, to be a fly on that wall.

Put to the test

Back on this side of the ditch, Labor MP Emma Husar did revisit that citizenship kerfuffle (which has probably not been at the forefront of Joyce’s mind over the past few days) while defending Susan Lamb on the ABC. “Fiona (Nash) didn’t do anything, neither did Barnaby, neither did John Alexander,” she said. “They didn’t check. They didn’t take reasonable and necessary steps. That’s the difference here … To check if you are a citizen of New Zealand is a very simple Google search. It is four questions. I know because I went and had a look at it.” Just four? Intrigued (and with no known NZ heritage), we took the test ourselves and can confirm the diagnosis: “You may not meet the requirements for NZ citizenship.” Come on, bro.

Family first

After a week of tough conversations about politicians’ family lives falling in the public eye, we’re indebted to Niki Savva for pointing out a sweet irony worthy of Alanis Morissette. Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull yesterday flung open the gates of The Lodge to all parliamentarians and their families for a family fun day. We’re informed there was a bouncy castle, face painting, balloon animals and a petting zoo (ahem, farm animals for the kids, in case you misunderstood). Official pics also reveal the Prime Minister flipped a few steaks on the barbie (while a stern-faced uniform-clad chef supervised in the background) and enjoyed a treat from the ice cream truck.

Regrets, I’ve had a few

It’s so long to Wayne Swan, who has announced he is bowing out after 22 years as the member for Lilley. Surrounded by family and colleagues as he confirmed his retirement on Saturday, Swanny nominated the Rudd government response to the global financial crisis as a career highlight (subtly reminding us all of his 2011 Euromoney gong for world’s best treasurer). But it all came with regrets, as he noted the toll on politicians’ partners and children. “I regret as a minister that I didn’t take off enough time to refresh and recharge,” he said. “Continuously long hours of work over a continuous period of time don’t necessarily give you the perception and the sharpness that you need to meet challenges of the future. If I could go back and do one thing, I would have been engaged in a bit more time with the family and a much more rigorous physical exercise program than I otherwise did.”

A big dunny day

We hope you’ve all got a big circle around this Wednesday. It’s February 14, and while roses are traditional to celebrate that particular date, some might also want to mark the launch of the 2018 International Toilet Tourism Awards in Mittagong. We simply couldn’t ignore a press release that promises “Journalists: This Story Will Make a Splash!”

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