Oz trip a chance for Luxon to show ‘hustle’
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will fly to Sydney this morning in his first official trip abroad to meet Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
The one-day trip across the Tasman, courtesy of a last-minute fix for the Air Force’s Boeing 757 VIP aircraft, will be the first opportunity for Luxon to show his much promised “hustle” on the world stage.
The meeting between the two leaders – who have had prior dealings as Air New Zealand chief and a former transport minister – promises to be more a show of strength in the New Zealand-Australia relationship, than substantive on the policy front.
New Zealand’s relationship with Australia had a major “reset” earlier this year, when Albanese’s Labor Government made good on two promises: creating a reasonable pathway to citizenship for 500,000 New Zealanders in Australia, and stemming the flow of convicted criminals – dubbed “501s” – being deported across the Ditch because of their New Zealand passports.
Luxon has this week said his “first and foremost” focus for the meeting would be improving the relationship by “being a good security partner in the region”.
“You know, without doubt, we are in contested space, and actually I want to make sure that we are a very good partner in that regard, and are working very positively and constructively with Australia, particularly in the Pacific.”
Just how New Zealand might be a better security partner for Australia, Luxon left unsaid.
“I want us to be higher intensity; higher engagement. I don’t ever want to take the relationship – as I say – with Australia for granted, therefore I want to be aligned with our closest ally.
“I also want to make sure that we are contributing in the region, as we’ve talked about, and I think there’s a range of ways to do that: through security – but also, you know, we’re going to have a lot more intensity around trade arrangements around the world as you’re seeing as well.”
He said there had been no change to the Government’s position on New Zealand participating in non-nuclear aspects of the Aukus security pact, in which the United States and United Kingdom will provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines in the coming decades, though Defence Minister Judith Collins referred to the prospect as an “opportunity lost” under the previous government. “What you’re hearing is a sentiment that actually we have very strong allies and partners, and we want to make sure that we are a good partner to them,” Luxon said. He said other focuses for the meeting would be economic progress, such as the improving regulatory settings and allowing more “seamless” travel between the countries, and maintaining “people-to-people connections”.
But old wounds are yet to fully heal. In recent days another case of a convicted criminal with little connection to New Zealand being deported here, 57-year-old Michael Scott Fear, has made headlines. Luxon brushed this off yesterday. “This individual ... was actually coming in under the old regime, and we'll manage that. But going forward, we've actually got a very common sense approach.” Albanese, in a statement, said the meeting between the two would demonstrate the closeness of the relationship. “Australia and New Zealand are not just friends, we are family. Our close relationship is underpinned by our rich history and generations of community, business and government links.”