Incoming New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has attempted to put to rest concerns that there is any tension between her and Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop over comments Bishop made prior to the election, despite Bishop still refusing to apologise or call Ardern.
.@jacindaardern says she has warmly welcomed an invitation by @TurnbullMalcolm to visit Australia MORE:… https://t.co/hb0Zwo2dRC
In an interview on Sky News on Sunday, Ardern said Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull had called to congratulate her on securing the numbers to form government, and extended an invitation for Ardern to visit Australia. The incoming prime minister said she would take him up on that offer soon.
There would be no awkwardness with Bishop, Ardern claimed.
"I absolutely intend to have the opportunity to meet with [Bishop] in the near future perhaps on my visit. I don't foresee there being any issue."
Why all the tension?
Around about the time when a (now-Walkley Award nominated) blogger William Summers began looking into whether deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce was eligible for dual citizenship via his Kiwi father, New Zealand Labour MP Chris Hipkins asked some questions about citizenship in the NZ parliament. It turned out that Hipkins had put the questions in after discussing the matter with the chief of staff of Australian Labor's shadow foreign minister, Penny Wong.
When it emerged that some within Australian Labor and New Zealand Labour had been discussing the matter, the Australian government then suggested Labor was colluding with a political party in a foreign country to bring down the government.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop accused Labor leader Bill Shorten of being "treacherous" and then, unusually for a foreign minister, went on to attack the opposition party in New Zealand.
"Should there be a change of government, I would find it very hard to build trust with those involved in allegations designed to undermine the government of Australia," Bishop said.
At the time, Ardern admonished the actions of the Labour MP and said she would be happy to speak with Bishop directly about the matter, but that call never arrived.
.@jacindaardern: I am happy to have a conversation directly with @JulieBishopMP about this issue. #pmagenda. MORE:… https://t.co/gpu8pri58K
Ardern even mentioned again in an interview with BuzzFeed News just days out from the election that she would be happy to take a call from Bishop about the matter, but still no call from Bishop.
Fast forward to last week, and almost four weeks since the New Zealand election, NZ First leader Winston Peters made a surprising announcement that he was going to back NZ Labour to form a coalition government.
The immediate response in Australia was: "...Awkward"
So @juliebishopmp
Bishop then went on a Donald Trump-style tweeting spree, labeling any suggestion that her previous comments would harm the relationship between Australia and New Zealand as "rubbish".
In a press conference, Bishop refused to apologise for her previous comments, and would not commit to calling Ardern, suggesting it would be against protocol for the foreign minister to call the incoming PM. Then when a reporter asked Bishop how Ardern could get her number, Bishop said it was publicly available.
"My phone number is available on every press release that I put out, it is publicly available," she said.
It turns out, it's not that hard for anyone to reach Ardern, either. When the ABC's resident language researcher (who advises staff on pronunciations, spelling, and grammar) Tiger Webb wanted to get a correct pronunciation of the new prime minister's name, he called through and managed to be put through directly to Ardern.
how's this. heard variant pronunciations of jacinda ardern, so called her office. got JA on the blower immediately. she confirmed: AH-durn
Ardern said she will announce her ministry early next week. The High Court has yet to hand down its judgment on whether Joyce was eligible to be elected due to his Kiwi dual citizenship.