Well, you have to hand it to Jacinda Ardern – if nothing else, she’s succeeded in (however briefly), uniting Australia’s government and opposition. United in telling her to shove off and keep her bratty yap shut.
At issue, in case you haven’t been reading The BFD for the last few days, is Ardern’s astonishing decision to publicly upbraid Australian PM Scott Morrison over Australia’s policy of deporting New Zealand citizens who’ve committed serious crimes in Australia, no matter how long they’ve lived here. “Do not deport your people and your problems,” scolded Ardern, putting on her best Greta scowl.
Except that, as many Australians were quick to point out: they’re NOT our people, Jacinda. New Zealand can have its laws, but we have ours, and they’re very clear: no matter how long you stay in Australia, if you refuse to take out Australian citizenship – you’re not Australian.
For once, Australia’s warring political parties united.
Labor frontbencher Jason Clare said[…]“This was pretty awful stuff.”
But he said he understood Mr Morrison’s argument that if you are a criminal born in another country and you serve jail time in Australia, you should go back to the country that you were born in.
“Regardless of whether that’s New Zealand or whether it is on the other side of the world,” he said.
Liberal backbencher Jason Falinski didn’t think it was the most effective way for Ms Ardern to deliver her message.
“I think there was an amount of political grandstanding involved in what she did,” he told ABC television.
theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/jacinda-ardens-swipe-at-scott-morrison-slammed-as-grandstanding/
The frontbenchers on both sides have long presented a united front against Ardern’s opportunistic finger-wagging.
The Coalition and Labor have united against Jacinda Ardern’s calls to stop the deportation of New Zealanders who have committed offences in Australia[…]But Anthony Albanese and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton both defended the longstanding policy [last June].
“We haven’t argued for change in this area,” the Opposition Leader told the Nine Network.
theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/peter-dutton-anthony-albanese-unite-against-jacinda-ardern/news-story/
Many Australians were of like mind. Letters columns and social media were flooded with emphatic rejections of Ardern’s grandstanding. Apart from the usual claque of well-to-do green-lefties, of course. Pirate Pete Fitzsimmons, for instance, took a break from churning out whatever risible ‘history’ doorstop he’s working on, to predictably swoon.
Others were less entranced.
The Australian charitably wondered whether “feeble and irritating” Ardern was just “feeling the pressure of the close election race she is facing across the Tasman”.
Mr Morrison played it cool, greeting his guest’s whinge with a smile and a restatement of Australia’s position: “If you’re a non-citizen, our very clear view — and our government is well-known for our clear views when it comes to issues of immigration and border security — if you have committed a crime and you’re not a citizen of Australia, then you have no right to stay.’’
A few St Jacinda groupies in the Australian green-left media took her side, claiming she had “lashed’’ Mr Morrison’s “unfair’’ policies. Most Australians, however, and many New Zealanders who have taken out Australian citizenship, prefer to see no-hopers from across the ditch sent back if they break Australian laws.
theaustralian.com.au/commentary/editorials/managing-an-ungracious-guest/
What will be interesting to watch is how this plays out at home. The legacy media peanut gallery will predictably swoon, but how will it be seen by ordinary Kiwi punters? A brave PM standing up to the bullies across the Tasman, or shrill fishwife-screeching by a flailing no-hoper, desperate to distract attention from her failures at home?
If you enjoyed this BFD article please consider sharing it with your friends.