It’s tit-for-tat, with no end in sight in the immigration skirmish between NZ and Australia. It started with Jacinda Ardern publicly upbraiding Scott Morrison for deporting badly-behaved New Zealanders and is continuing with politicians on both sides of the ditch chipping in.
In Australia the Australian Minister of Home Affairs, Peter Dutton accused Jacinda Ardern of raising the matter for “political reasons and for personal ambition, and Australia should be ‘better than that’.”
Retaliation for this comment came from New Zealand’s “handbrake”, Winston Peters, who flung Dutton’s criticism of Ardern right back at him.
Peters accused Dutton of putting short-term domestic politics, including his own leadership ambitions, above the trans-Tasman relationship. He said Australia’s policy began with politics “and we know who began it, and we know what happened when he went to run for the Liberal leadership, and he gets to the door and he knocks on it and it ends up being Scott Morrison, not Mr Dutton”.
The Guardian
Winston Peters rushed to the New Zealand prime minister’s defence.
“Peters argued Australia’s policy was fundamentally unfair: “You’ve sent thousands back to New Zealand and we’ve sent a handful back to you.
Peters told ABC radio that the man on trial for mass murder over the massacre had “come to this country from Australia”.
“Did we make a song and dance about Australia about that?”
No, we did not. But Peters’s introduction of Brenton Tarrant into the conversation begs the question: how many criminals would constitute a fair swap for Australian Brenton Tarrant if he is convicted of murdering 51 people here? His trial is scheduled for June this year.
Relations between New Zealand and Australia were soured last year after the accumulated deportation of around 2,000 New Zealanders since 2015, compared to the handful deported from New Zealand back to Australia.
“Trans-Tasman relations are facing a new threat, with Australian politicians moving to tighten up the deportation policy which has already led to hundreds of people being sent back to New Zealand.
A rule change in late 2014 meant non-citizens sentenced to a year in prison could be sent back to their home country.
Due to the relaxed visa rules between New Zealand and Australia, and the resulting migration that occurs between the two countries, the policy disproportionately affects New Zealanders.”
Stuff
John Key was critical of Australia’s change in policy when they widened their deportation net back in 2014 but Simon Bridges takes the opposing view, saying rather than asking Australia to change their law, “New Zealand needs to look into a reciprocal policy.”
It is, after all, election year here and, short of another national tragedy, politicians will settle for any hot topic for guaranteed media mileage.
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