New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern yesterday told Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to stop deporting “your people and your problems” to her nation in a testy joint public appearance.
Ardern tore into her counterpart over Australia’s policy of forcibly deporting New Zealand citizens — even if they had lived almost all their lives in Australia.
“Look, I have been absolutely clear — this is corrosive to our relationship,” Ardern said bluntly as she described the problem as seen from Wellington during the joint news conference in Sydney.
“Australia is well within its rights to deport individuals who break your laws, New Zealand does the same, but we have a simple request — send back Kiwis,” she said. “Genuine Kiwis.”
“Do not deport your people and your problems,” she said, complaining that some of the more than 2,000 people Australia has deported were de facto Australians.
The two leaders had begun the news conference smiling in Sydney Harbour’s sunshine, but the mood soon turned frosty.
Both looked on sternly as the other spoke, no doubt mindful of how it would play out with voters.
Ardern faces a tough re-election battle later this year, while Morrison is reeling after a series of high-profile scandals and crises.
The 51-year-old Australian staunchly refused to change his government’s policies — which are hugely popular with his conservative base — saying that anyone who “doesn’t hold the title of ‘citizen of Australia’ does not get a special deal.”
“Doesn’t matter how long you have been here. It doesn’t matter whether you turned up yesterday or many years ago,” Morrison said. “If you are not a citizen of Australia, and you violate our laws, then under my government’s policies you will not be allowed to remain in Australia.”
The pair also noted differences over climate change, with Ardern referencing repeated Pacific Island calls for coal-producing Australia to do more to tackle emissions.
“We each know each other’s policies,” the 39-year-old said. “New Zealand’s taken its position, Australia have taken theirs, and we discuss the expectations ... that the Pacific rightly has of both of us.”
Ardern also offered her condolences to the Australian communities affected by deadly bushfires, which experts say were made worse by climate-influenced drought and weather patterns.
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