The first thing strange about Jacinda Ardern’s trip was that she flew to Australia in an Air Force plane instead of taking a commercial flight.
We were told it was because in her opinion it was more economical and left a better carbon footprint. Apparently, it had nothing to do with the fact that she had invited the media along for the ride so that they could give her a glowing report card or with the fact that she needed a fast turn around so she could get home quickly to her baby daughter.
The second strange thing about her trip was that on her arrival she was warmly met on the tarmac, not by the Aussie PM, but by the woman she ousted from the deputy leader’s role back in 2017, who now is one of her closest advisors, New Zealand High Commissioner to Australia Dame Annette King.
Once in Australia, she gave a lecture to 2000 fellow socialists on good governance. That must have seemed like a big success compared to the days when she was president of the IUSY and was urging her comrades to rebel.
She then staged a media conference in front of the NZ media she brought along for the trip. Aussie media were left out in the cold.
She met the Australian PM on the second day, took a couple of selfies with their partners, did another media standup and then proceeded to slag off Australian politicians over one of their policies. A policy designed to keep their citizens safe from criminals.
In the meantime, the PM’s partner was creating his own diplomatic incident over the ownership of the pavlova.
The trip then went from the ridiculous to the bizarre when her Air Force plane broke down for the second time in a week on Australian soil. I am sure the Air Force would have preferred the plane was back in NZ under repair and maintenance, not acting as a broken-down taxi.
Keen to get back in time to put Neve to bed, Ardern then hopped on a commercial flight leaving the media stranded on the tarmac. They were last seen hitchhiking their way over the Tasman.
Next time, forget the circus, fly to Sydney, meet the Aussie PM and fly back home at the end of the day on a commercial airline.
