Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 19/8/24

Kiwi deportees perhaps were the focus of Luxon’s talks with Albanese – but not for long

Kiwis for some time have been rankled by Australia’s deporting to New Zealand criminals born in NZ but with very little connection to the land of their birth. Our political leaders have dutifully remonstrated with their Australian counterparts on the matter, but to no satisfactory effect.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is reported to have had another crack when he met Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra last week,

Point of Order: Aussie election result result opens the way for a revitalisation of the Anzac partnership

Australia’s election, thrusting the ALP and its leader Anthony Albanese back into a governing role, offers the Ardern government a fresh opportunity to blow the cobwebs off the Anzac partnership.

During the last years of the Liberal era, the once-strong Trans-Tasman relationship appeared to cool. Australia’s deportation policy under the notorious 501 provision of its immigration law has become a sore point and the Liberal government under Scott Morrison planned to increase the flow of Kiwi deportees, much to Wellington’s chagrin.

Australia and NZ share similar goals in trade and defence, but these, too, need a fresh polish. The world during the Covid era has been changing rapidly, and now the Russian invasion of Ukraine has created a deep tension in global relationships.