New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s emphasis on Australia was underlined by his visiting Anthony Albanese in Sydney the same day his Finance Minister, Nicola Willis, was revealing the financial debacle left by Jacinda Ardern and Chris Hipkins.
That prioritisation reflects Luxon’s view New Zealand has become too inward-looking and it needs to “hustle” globally.
Continuing recent practice, Australia was Luxon’s first formal overseas trip as PM, after privately attending his daughter’s graduation in Melbourne two weeks ago.
He made much of his own connections: living in Sydney when working for Unilever, and getting to know then-transport minister Albanese when he was heading up Air New Zealand.
Luxon will be New Zealand’s most genuinely pro-Australia prime minister ever, accelerating Labour’s sharp tilt back to Canberra, Washington, NATO, Tokyo and Seoul.
His Foreign Minister, Winston Peters, has already dropped New Zealand’s childish insistence since 1984 that it runs an “independent” foreign policy. Peters points out the slogan was smug, implying other countries don’t, and meaningless, since every country does.
The message to Beijing is that Wellington backing democracy over dictatorship is its independent choice, despite China menacingly warning New Zealand of the “risks” of seeking closer economic ties with India.
At their joint press conference on Wednesday, both leaders rattled off the usual history, from Gallipoli on. But New Zealand diplomats will have noticed it was Albanese who lauded the half-century Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement, allowing unrestricted access for both countries’ citizens to live in the other. Some Australian officials downplay the TTTA’s standing, which New Zealand regards as essential to remain intimately connected to at least one genuine First World economy.
Likewise, Australian officials surely noticed that Luxon didn’t demur when Albanese said the two countries didn’t just share common values but “a common strategic outlook”. Luxon was the first to refer to the military alliance, promising Wellington would do its share of the “heavy lifting” in what he called “a more challenging and complex world” and emphasising greater military interoperability.
Given the AUKUS defence pact, which Luxon called “a very important element in ensuring peace” in the region, greater interoperability implicitly extends to the US and UK. Albanese denies pushing for New Zealand to join Pillar Two of AUKUS, but he doesn’t need to. Luxon confirmed New Zealand is interested and will decide over the next year. It’s unthinkable his government would choose no.
New Zealand’s anti-nuclear policy will stay. The baby boomers will need to pass before it can reconsider that matter rationally. Albanese astutely emphasised Australia’s new submarines will be nuclear-powered but not nuclear-armed. Some New Zealand voters make that distinction.
Both sides’ message was clear: New Zealand and Australia do better the more they co-operate.
Australia’s prodigal cousin continues its journey home.
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