I will never forget the Christchurch earthquake in February 2011. None of us will, of course. But one of the things that stands out in my mind was how quickly the USAR crew arrived from Australia. They were here by late afternoon, after the earthquake had struck just before 1.00pm. All I could think of that day was Thank You, Australia. You truly are, as always, our friends when we are in need.
That was over 8 years ago though, and it seems a lot has changed.
Australia’s policy to deport people who commit crimes to New Zealand – even when they’ve spent most of their lives living overseas – is “corrosive” to the relationship between the two nations, Jacinda Ardern said today, warning that it’s not an issue she’s intending to let go.
Once again, I am embarrassed by our naive prime minister. She has absolutely no rights here. Among the large number of Kiwis living in Australia, there are a significant number who are being or have been deported because they have committed serious crimes. I have heard all the sob stories about them not having a support network in New Zealand, but it makes no difference. Kiwis in Australia will always be deported if they commit crimes. A really good idea would be for them not to commit the crimes in the first place, but that doesn’t seem to occur to anyone, especially Jacinda Ardern.
“New Zealand absolutely accepts Australia is within its rights to deport those who engage in criminal activity in Australia,” she told media today.
Well, that is it then. Even Jacinda acknowledges that Australia is acting completely within its rights. If only she had left it there, then maybe the relationship would still be safe.
But no.
“However, there are examples on the more extreme end, where individuals have little to no connection at all to New Zealand, have grown up in Australia, and those are the cases we continue to raise with Australia at every level.”
She said Mr Morrison “knows I consider it to be corrosive to the relationship”.
And you know what, Jacinda? Scott Morrison doesn’t give a damn if you think this is ‘corrosive’ to the relationship. You know why? Because nobody in New Zealand votes for him… and those people who do vote for him don’t want our criminals on their shores. Fair enough too.
The thing is that being the minnow in the relationship (or as is often said, being the ‘kid brother’), Jacinda is both stupid and naive to speak as arrogantly as she does. It puts our relationship with Australia in serious jeopardy. Australia can change the rules regarding residency to the detriment of thousands of Kiwis at the drop of a hat. Australia also does not have to constantly come to our aid as soon as we call. The fact that they do, every time, is a measure of the close ties between the countries. I don’t think we can take that attitude for granted though, as Jacinda so arrogantly does.
Ms Ardern added that many New Zealanders consider the policy “not fair dinkum”.
TVNZ
I have not met one single Kiwi that agrees with this statement, but I think that is probably because most of us respect Australia’s right to apply its own laws. Jacinda has no right to tell another sovereign country how they should treat foreign nationals who commit crimes in their country.
Nothing will stop her though. Punch drunk on her positive international image after the Christchurch massacre, she seems to think she has some divine right to tell everyone what to do. She doesn’t.
The good thing about this is that her true colours have been shown to the Australians, who, until now, have treated her with great reverence and respect. Reports coming out of Australia this weekend are not all complimentary to our dear leader.
So to all Australians (and I know there are a few who read this blog), please accept our apologies for our prime minister’s complete lack of international diplomacy and her self aggrandisement that lets her think that she can tell your country what to do. She may well completely wreck our close relationship, just like David Lange did to relations with the USA, and we will be out in the cold for decades. We really don’t want that.
I just hope that next time we have a major disaster where we need you guys to drop everything and come to our aid, that we have a proper prime minister by then… one that respects the sovereignty of your country and tries to work together with you, rather than split us apart.
For many of us in New Zealand, who have not fallen for the fairy dust she sprinkles around, that day cannot come soon enough. A few Australians can probably understand that now.
