Economy, Pacific on menu for New Zealand PM lunch

Anthony Albanese will sit down to lunch with his new New Zealand counterpart Chris ‘Chippie’ Hipkins in Canberra on Tuesday.

New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins. Picture: Getty Images

Anthony Albanese will sit down to lunch with his new New Zealand counterpart Chris “Chippie” Hipkins in Canberra on Tuesday, with “shared domestic challenges” and the nations’ “continued leadership in the Pacific” said to be at the top of the agenda.

The visit is Mr Hipkins’ first as Prime Minister after he unexpectedly took over from Jacinda Ardern following her snap retirement last month, and will not feature a formal bilateral meeting.

The leaders will instead sit down in the Prime Minister’s Parliament House office for what is being billed by senior Australian officials as an “introductory working lunch”.

Mr Hipkins, who faces an election in October and has never held only domestically focused portfolios, has put the focus during his short leadership on “bread and butter issues” such as the surging cost of living for everyday New Zealanders.

Australian officials said Mr Albanese was keen to focus on common challenges such as soaring energy prices, as well as the countries’ sharper focus on the Pacific.

A discussion of China’s role in the region is likely, while Mr Albanese is expected to brief his counterpart on Australia’s plans to acquire nuclear-powered submarines in response to Chinese strategic threats.

While Ms Ardern was reluctant for much of her tenure to call out bad behaviour by China, it is unclear where Mr Hipkins stands on relations with Beijing.

The meeting is set to be the first in years between the countries’ leaders that hasn’t involved complaints by the New Zealand side over Australia sending back Kiwi-born criminals after their sentences.

Under a recently announced change negotiated with Ms Ardern, the Department of Home Affairs will consider the length of time a non-citizen criminal has spent in Australia before deciding to deport them after their release.

Professor Robert Ayson, from New Zealand’s Victoria University of Wellington, said the visa issue had been “more than an irritant in the relationship for New Zealand, and for New Zealanders generally”.

“Jacinda Ardern pressed on the principle of this issue for some time, but I don’t think Mr Hipkins will mind taking a bit of the credit himself,” he said.

Professor Ayson said the meeting was a chance for Mr Hipkins to get to know his Australian counterpart.

He said it was unclear how the countries could work together to deal with the impact of rising prices and global supply chain problems.

Mr Hipkins’ early weeks in office have been dominated by the Auckland floods, highlighting the challenge posed by climate change in the minds of everyday New Zealanders.

Mr Albanese will also welcome East Timorese Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak on Tuesday in his first visit.