PM wraps up visit to New Zealand dominated by global turmoil

Anthony Albanese has wrapped a “successful visit” to New Zealand by joining Kiwi counterpart Christopher Luxon on a helicopter jaunt over the country’s Southern Alps. The prime ministers were all hugs and smiles as they held their annual talks. But even in the chilly tranquillity of New Zealand’s snow-capped peaks neither leader could escape the shadow of wars raging on multiple continents and conflict looming closer to home. It was against this backdrop that Mr Albanese on Sunday stressed that Canberra and Wellington were in lock-step. “When Australians think of New Zealand, we think of the Anzacs and we think of the sacrifice that we’ve made together in defence of our freedom,” he told reporters in Arrowtown, a historic mining town northwest of Queenstown. “Australia and New Zealand are great friends – we think alike and we act alike on the international stage. “And this visit here has been one of warmth, of engagement, of practical moves forward, including the meeting that we had yesterday afternoon with leaders in the business community of both Australia and New Zealand, talking about how we can expand that seamless economy, making sure that we can boost productivity to the benefit of both of our economies. “So, it’s been a very successful visit.” A day earlier, he and Mr Luxon released a statement outlining 41 shared commitments. They ranged from deeper trans-Tasman economic ties amid “global economic uncertainty” to mutual defence aimed at “protecting and advancing our shared interests in our region” – a not-so-subtle side-eye to China. Unlike Australia, New Zealand failed to escape Donald Trump’s baseline tariff hike. With the US almost single-handedly driving up New Zealand’s beef exports last year, cattle farmers stand to be hit the hardest. Meanwhile, Australia has managed to keep US tariffs down at 10 per cent, with exceptions for certain sectors. The Albanese government was also rattled again this week by the US President threatening levies of up to 250 per cent on pharmaceuticals. China has keenly pounced on both Australia and New Zealand, with Beijing positioning itself as a more reliable partner than Washington. But the chains attached to deeper engagement with China come with a suite of strategic concerns. On the regional threat from China, Mr Luxon said on Saturday New Zealand’s role was “to be a force multiplier”. “We want to be a one … Anzac force essentially, operating within our region,” he told reporters in a press conference with Mr Albanese. “And it covers all the gambit of helping the Pacific when there’s emergencies and disasters.” He went on to say “China is a massive, significant player in the world, and it’s a permanent feature of global affairs as well”. Echoing Mr Albanese’s own mantra, he said his government has “an approach which is about co-operating where we can”. “As I said to (Chinese President Xi Jinping), we co-operate where we can, we disagree where we must,” he said. In that same press conference, Mr Albanese was asked about deportations of New Zealand citizens under Section 501 of the Migration Act. Oftentimes, deportees have spent most of their lives in Australia and have, as Mr Luxon said, “very little connection to New Zealand”. It has been a long-running issue in the otherwise cosiest of cosy foreign relationships that has caused Mr Luxon and his predecessors grief at home. But both leaders downplayed it, instead championing their unity on international affairs. The list of shared positions on major foreign policy issues was the longest list in their joint statement. “Prime Ministers underscored the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and called for the peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues through dialogue, without the threat or use of force or coercion and confirmed their shared opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo,” the statement said in another thinly veiled shot at China. Further afield was joint condemnation of “Russia’s illegal and unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine” and “deepening Russia-North Korea military co-operation”. They called the authoritarian alliance, specifically the deployment of North Korean troops to Ukraine, a “dangerous expansion of Russia’s war, with serious consequences for European and Indo-Pacific security”. The prime ministers also issued a joint call on Israel “to immediately comply with its obligations under international law” and let the UN and aid agencies “carry out their lifesaving work safely and unhindered” in Gaza, where civilian deaths from starvation are climbing after 22 months of war. “Any attempt by Israel to escalate hostilities, including by taking control of Gaza City, would be wrong, risk violating international law, and exacerbate the human catastrophe already unfolding inside the Gaza Strip,” they said. “We urge the Israeli Government to reconsider before it is too late.” It came after Israel’s security cabinet approved plans to fully occupy Gaza with the stated goal of annihilating Hamas and handing the war-ravaged Palestinian territory to Arab forces – of which country or countries remains unknown.