Jacinda Ardern has almost zero likelihood of a rapprochement with Scott Morrison should she be re-elected
They call it “little man” syndrome, but it applies to both sexes. It is an insecurity complex derived from one’s small stature, whether that be literal or metaphorical. Believing this is best addressed by puffing up the chest, finger-pointing and raising one’s voice in a show of anger, those who suffer from it resort to bluster and haranguing as a means of negotiating.
In foreign affairs this behaviour is not unknown in meetings between leaders, although public displays are rare. To this day Russians wince at the mere mention of former Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev, who at the UN General Assembly in 1960 repeatedly pummelled his desk with his fists and shoe. It is not so much vulgar as uncouth when the conduct is premeditated and designed to inflict embarrassment on one’s host.
Which brings me to New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her bugbear with Australia’s policy of deporting Kiwis who are sentenced to 12 or more months imprisonment and/or are associates of a criminal organisation. “Send back Kiwis – genuine Kiwis. Do not deport your people and your problems,” she arrogantly proclaimed last week, standing a metre from Morrison. Ardern could not have chosen a better backdrop for her theatrics than the Sydney Opera House. “We will own our people. We ask that Australia stops exporting theirs.”
For Australians still smarting at the Coalition’s unexpected return to government last year, this confected outrage was a case of Jacinda doing Scotty over like a boss. Although bemused at her petulance, Morrison nonetheless maintained his composure and humour. No doubt he was contemplating a cutting rejoinder, perhaps silently observing “Prime Minister Ardern, if you cannot take responsibility for all of your country’s citizens, then you cannot take responsibility for any of them”.
Naturally, had he said that, Morrison would have faced accusations of mansplaining, bullying and misogyny. That is the beauty of identity politics for a woman leader, or rather a progressive woman leader. She is heralded as brave, feisty and empowered when she publicly berates a conservative male leader to his face. He is her punching bag, yet she is packed in cotton wool. Something to do with equality I am told.
Ardern knew full well her histrionics would not result in any gain for her country. As journalist Anna-Burns Francis observed on New Zealand radio station Newstalk ZB last week, “It’s just not going to make any difference. Who are we in the power play here?” And while she has consistently decried this policy, Ardern with each protest merely highlights her lack of influence, thus making her look weak. So why continue to do it?
Ironically this outburst has more to do with Ardern’s reticence than it does her brashness. She has been silent on a major donations scandal involving her coalition partner, New Zealand First, and its leader, deputy prime minister Winston Peters. Despite the Serious Fraud Office having taken over the investigation, Ardern has refused to stand down Peters pending its finalisation, claiming she would not do anything to “pre-empt” the outcome, which could well take many months.
But the ongoing criminal investigation does not change the fact the New Zealand Electoral Commission has already found “the donations were not properly transmitted to the Party and not disclosed as required by the Electoral Act”. Instead of acknowledging and acting on this unlawful behaviour, Ardern has abrogated responsibility, saying “I consider these matters for New Zealand First … as opposed to me”. This same prime minister who self-righteously declared last year that “Australia has to answer to the Pacific” for its emissions now refuses to answer to her country about the obnoxious stench within her government.
Her attack on Morrison is but a distraction tactic in an election year. Ardern cannot maintain government without the support of Peters, hence her timidity. He too is desperate to divert attention, telling ABC Radio National this week these deportations are motivated by “political opportunism”, and that this was a case of “Australians being deported to New Zealand”. For all its internationalist credentials, much of which are symbolic only, Ardern’s government is not above appealing to nationalism.
The hypocrisy does not end there. “Our special relationship changed in 2001,” Peters added, referring to the Howard government’s tightening of Australian citizenship entitlements for New Zealand residents. Yet he himself declared on the eve of the 2017 election that whichever party formed government should as its first official act apologise to Australia for providing a back door to immigrants who never would have been admitted but for their Kiwi citizenship. “Our easy immigration policy allowed them to use us as a stepping stone to a country that without us they would never have got to — Australia,” he said.
Ardern can stamp her feet all she wants, but these deportations are a long-term consequence of various New Zealand governments bestowing citizenship willy-nilly. Instead of addressing a problem of her country’s making, she has the audacity to insist Australia own it. And given the deportees hold New Zealand citizenship, who is she to make arbitrary distinctions about “genuine” Kiwis? For example, in the category of “non-genuine” Kiwis, does Ardern include Maori, who along with Pacific Islanders make up more than 60 per cent of the deportees in question?
Not all New Zealanders are fooled by Ardern and Peters’ provincial fervour. As Wellington-based senior political reporter Laura Walters noted this month in Newsroom, New Zealand has in the last five years deported over 1000 Pacific Islanders, with 400 of these removals resulting from criminal convictions. Some of these deportees had no family links to their place of origin, did not speak the local language, and had no access to social services of welfare. At least the 1600 New Zealanders deported from Australia over the last five years have access to the latter.
Former New Zealand immigration minister Tuariki John Delamere also agrees Ardern’s protests are high dudgeon. “I don’t blame the Australians, not one little bit. If you’ve got people committing crimes in your country, let’s get rid of them. We do the same,” he said last year. “It’s hypocrisy like you wouldn’t believe,” he said of Ardern’s remonstrating with Morrison. “There’s a degree of arrogance I think – that we should be special.”
Still, Ardern has noisy admirers in Australia, including those commentators who fawningly repeat her criticism without scrutiny. Lauding her comments as “strong”, Sydney Morning Herald columnist Peter FitzSimons wrote last Sunday “As one who did an in-depth story on this as a guest reporter for the ABC’s Foreign Correspondent a couple of years ago, I have to say she is right in every particular and we Australians are wrong”.
In-depth? That story was about as deep as a Gobi Desert rain gauge. To recap, FitzSimons had sympathetically portrayed three deportees – one a man convicted of bashing his wife, the others a drug-trafficker and a member of an outlaw motorcycle gang. He also gave soft interviews to Peters and New Zealand justice minister Andrew Little, as well as friends of the gang member. As for giving balance, FitzSimons devoted an entire minute to an excerpt from his interview with Home Affairs minister Peter Dutton.
We heard nothing from the perspective of the victims, although FitzSimons found time in this taxpayer-funded documentary to bore viewers with several reminisces about his rugby playing days and his pet cause, republicanism. Former ABC journalist Tony Eastley disgustedly tweeted that this episode was a case of “Objectivity out the window”.
As for Ardern’s ambush of Morrison as an electoral strategy, it will be high-fives from those who believe that irritating the Aussies suffices for foreign policy. The publicity will also assist her claim that Australia is to blame for a rise in organised crime in her country. After all, it is an election year.
But this is a dubious tactic. Should she be returned to government – a prospect that looks increasingly remote – she has almost zero likelihood of a rapprochement with the Morrison government. Not surprisingly it regards her as a dilettante in foreign policy as well as one who cannot be trusted.
If anything, she will have motivated Morrison to institute even more vigorous measures against New Zealand citizens who offend in Australia. Start planning that homecoming for a lot of disgruntled citizens, Ms Ardern. Kiwi Con Air is your legacy.
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