I’d love a call from Julie Bishop: Ardern

Jacinda Ardern says she would happily take a call from Julie Bishop - but the Foreign Minister won’t be calling her.

Jacinda Ardern in Wellington yesterday. Picture: AP

New Zealand prime minister-elect Jacinda Ardern has described her phone call with Malcolm Turnbull as “warm and friendly” and declared she would “happily receive” a call from Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.

The NZ Labour leader said she told Mr Turnbull she planned to come to Australia in the near future.

“Last night I had a conversation with Prime Minister Turnbull and we spoke about our mutual interests, the strength of our relationship and my hope to travel to Australia in the near future, which he welcomed,” Ms Ardern said.

She said she had not had a call from the Foreign Minister, who said in February she would struggle to trust a NZ Labour government.

“If I phone call is made I will happily receive it,” she said.

Earlier, Ms Bishop said she would not call Ms Ardern to congratulate her on her surprise ascension to the prime ministership.

Ms Bishop said the NZ Labour leader was welcome to call her, adding that her phone number was on the bottom of every press release.

“When the Foreign Minister of New Zealand has been appointed I will contact my counterpart, that is the usual procedure and I look forward to Ms Ardern’s visit to Australia,” she said.

Ms Bishop said she would have no problem working with Ms Ardern.

The Foreign Minister said she was “delighted” the Labour leader had criticised the Labour MP who asked the question in NZ parliament that led to the revelation Barnaby Joyce was a dual citizen.

“I was delighted that Ms Ardern offered an explanation where she criticised her colleague’s conduct as being wrong, unacceptable, that it should not have occurred and they should not have become involved,” Ms Bishop said.

Earlier today Mr Turnbull said there is no need to apologise to Ms Ardern, putting the stoush between his government and NZ Labour down to “political activity”.

Mr Turnbull said he would have no trust issues with the incoming Labour government after the party’s shock rise to power across the ditch.

“I think that was some political activity in NZ which Jacinda Ardern deplored and she regretted it,” Mr Turnbull told Melbourne radio station 3AW today.

“You are better off not scratching away at past political episodes — I am looking forward to a great relationship with the new government.”

Julie Bishop and Malcolm Turnbull in question time yesterday. Picture: AAP

Asked by host Neil Mitchell if an apology was needed he replied: “No, no.”

Mr Turnbull said he had spoken with both Ms Ardern and Bill English, whose conservative National Party failed to negotiate a coalition with minor party NZ First.

“We will work together effectively and confidentially and constructively as Australian and NZ prime ministers have done from different political persuasions across the ditch for generations,” he said.

“The National government there has done an outstanding job in restoring NZ’s economic fortunes but Jacinda Ardern will be the new prime minister and I will work with her as constructively as John Howard used to work with Helen Clark.”

“I agree entirely with her and I look forwards to working with Ms Ardern.”

Ms Bishop has not yet spoken with Ms Ardern.

“When the Foreign Minister of New Zealand has been appointed I will contact my counterpart, that is the usual procedure and I look forward to Ms Ardern’s visit to Australia,” she said.

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash suggested the NZ government may be destined to fail.

“History shows that unfortunately the last time the Labour, Greens and independents formed government it didn’t end well,” Senator Cash told 2GB radio last night, before praising the previous government led by John Key and Mr English.

Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said the Turnbull government needed to rebuild its relations with NZ.

“It was a deeply regrettable lapse in judgment by Julie Bishop. It was an attempt to divert attention from the citizenship crisis surrounding Mr Joyce and she publicly declared as Foreign Minister that she couldn’t trust a future NZ Labour government,” he she told Sky News last night.