The week when Scomo came to visit

Written By: - Date published: 11:12 am, June 6th, 2021 - 5 comments
Categories: australian politics, China, Economy, Free Trade, International, jacinda ardern, trade, us politics - Tags:

Scotty Morrison came to visit this week.

China was at the centre of discussions.

I am sure it was coincidental but last Sunday the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Australia’s Channel Nine Network aired this particularly stupid take on the New Zealand – Australia – China relationships.

If you want to really question the quality of Australia’s media and want to waste 20 minutes of your life then watch this.

The essence of the documentary’s claims is that unlike Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand has sold its soul to the devil by choosing to continue to trade with China.

Selling stuff, like coal and iron ore, to China is fine and dandy.  But continuing to sell milk and meat to China after it gets upset with Australia because it kept picking fights with China over an extended period of time is somehow a bad thing.

The background to the Australia-China spat is easy to recount.  As I noted earlier Senior Minister Peter Dutton has questioned China on the origins of Covid and demanded greater transparency.  He has accused China of conducting a series of cyber-attacks on Australian targets, stealing intellectual property and muzzling free speech.  And more recently the Australian Government cancelled two belt and road agreements that the Victorian Government had made with the Chinese Government.

Then during Anzac Week Dutton and Home affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo talk about the possibility of war with China if it keeps on expanding into the China sea.  This is not how you conduct a respectful relationship.

Then they became upset because as part of the Five Eyes alliance New Zealand did not agree to be part of a joint statement condemning China’s human rights records.  This attracted some interesting feedback.

Chris Finlayson on Radio New Zealand this week said this:

As the former Minister in charge of the Intelligence Agencies I have to say the Five Eyes Arrangement is an intelligence arrangement and it doesn’t mean to say that we have to adopt the same point of view on all issues as the other members of the Five Eyes and the suggestion that because we are in the Five Eyes we have to adopt abseance to all things that the Australians see or do is simply wrong.

He also said this about Dutton:

I have always found Dutton crass and ignorant and the comments he made about New Zealanders being thrown out of Australia were dreadfully unfair especially bearing in mind that the worst form of trash is the guy who killed fifty people in Christchurch …

Back to the doco, some dude from the impressive Australian Strategic Policy Institute was interviewed and provided grave warnings on where this was leading us.  Who are they you may ask and who funds them?

They were founded by the Australian government and are partly funded by the Australian Department of Defence. In addition to domestic funding, the Institute is also funded by foreign governments such as the United States State Department and military contractors.  I am not in the slightest surprised that they should take a pro western and anti Chinese line.

The ABC Channel 9 documentary descended into pathos when future Australian resident Mike Hosking is interviewed.  Did the presenters have no one else they could interview?  Although Hosking did say something sensible, if there was a morality clause in trade deals very little trade would be happening.

Should Aotearoa New Zealand follow Australia’s example in how to engage with China?  If you review Nanaia Mahuta’s carefully crafted speech on New Zealand’s relationship with China you will see that the Government wants us to work on the relationship in our own way, not abuse a major nation for political jollies.

Tuesday’s Queenstown summit presented some interesting communications.

There were lots of words exchanged but essentially Australia backed down.

From Radio New Zealand:

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison says New Zealand’s attitude to China is not harming the Five Eyes relationship.

Morrison and his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern were speaking to media this afternoon, marking his first visit to New Zealand since the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

He said there were some countries who would seek to undermine the Australia-New Zealand relationship and security, but the two nations were working together in many fields and at an international level in the WHO and for trade, for example.

He played down the risk of conflict between China and Australia, saying he wanted to ease tensions and facilitate trade in the Indo-Pacific region.

Ardern this morning denied New Zealand was supporting Australia in a barley trade dispute with China to soothe relations with its Tasman neighbour.

This afternoon she said New Zealand was a committed member of Five Eyes.

Asked if New Zealand was “cosying up” to China, she said New Zealand was maintaining a principled position and there was little difference in the relationship compared to the Australia-China one.

Joining with Australia in a trade dispute is hardly a back down.  Morrison saying our stance is not harming the Five Eyes relationship and Ardern gets to say that the relationship with China is similar although slightly different, preserves New Zealand’s position.

This Chinese Global Times article suggests that China does appreciate the subtlety of New Zealand’s position:

The 60 Minutes program was just another attempt from Australia to use its media to pressure New Zealand, but it has caused an unexpected backlash that is huge across the small island country.

The Ardern administration is more peaceful and friendly amid the anti-China clamor in the US and some other Western countries. In fact, it has repeatedly demonstrated its political wisdom and sobriety. Apart from the fact that New Zealand’s positioning and its priority of national interests is different from Australia, the composition and status of its people between the two countries are also different.

New Zealand’s Maori people have a high political status in the country. They enjoy greater rights in the country’s political life. But the majority of the Australian aboriginal population was driven into the reserves and treated unfairly. This has led to strong shades of colonialism, racism and hegemony in Australian politics.

Besides, there is serious competition between New Zealand and Australia’s exports. As a result, New Zealand values its established markets and is unwilling to sacrifice its interests to US hegemony, nor can it afford to do so. By contrast, Australia relies heavily on the US for security and therefore is more subject to Washington.

But in any case, if China-US competition escalates, New Zealand will to some extent be influenced. After all, if the largest two countries in the world are engaged in total confrontation, no other country will have the ability to keep a neutral stance. At that time, everyone will be forced to take a side, especially the countries viewed as allies by the US.

In this context, Wellington prefers to keep the situation stable and prevent it from deteriorating into one where it will have to sacrifice its interests. This is why the NZ government has strived to stay independent and sober-headed.

Australia’s behaviour suggests that political advantage is more important than international relations.  New Zealand’s behaviour suggests the complete opposite.

5 comments on “The week when Scomo came to visit ”

  1. AB 1

    The fact that similar overcooked nonsense appeared in the UK media suggests it's more for domestic consumption and ideological control at home – stopping what would be considered as the Ardern lefty contamination from having appeal outside NZ.

    And also – "The ABC documentary descended into pathos". Presumably you meant bathos, and are more astute than your spellchecker.

  2. Ad 2

    Good work Mickey I'd been thinking along the same lines.

  3. ghostwhowalksnz 3

    " Australian Broadcasting Corporation aired …"

    60 minutes is on Channel 9 network not ABC

    [Thanks that makes much more sense. Have now corrected – MS]

  4. ghostwhowalksnz 4

    The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has its own commsioned output

    https://www.aspi.org.au/

    It also has a blog of opinions from its various policy wonks.

    Like this

    https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/ardern-morrison-meeting-about-the-pacific-not-china-policy-shenanigans/

    Its a bit like the Standard in that authors have their own opinions.

    Some of them weirdly think ANZUS still exists like in the old days

  5. Kiwijoker 5

    Having had some interaction with Morrison in the past I’m damn sure he would chuck us to the wolves on his way to church.

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  • The New Government’s Agreements
    Last Friday, almost six weeks after election day, National finally came to an agreement with ACT and NZ First to form a government. They also released the agreements between each party and looking through them, here are the things I thought were the most interesting (and often concerning) from the. ...
    6 days ago
  • How many smokers will die to fund the tax cuts?
    Maori and Pasifika smoking rates are already over twice the ‘all adult’ rate. Now the revenue that generates will be used to fund National’s tax cuts. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The devil is always in the detail and it emerged over the weekend from the guts of the policy agreements National ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • How the culture will change in the Beehive
    Perhaps the biggest change that will come to the Beehive as the new government settles in will be a fundamental culture change. The era of endless consultation will be over. This looks like a government that knows what it wants to do, and that means it knows what outcomes ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago
  • No More Winnie Blues.
    So what do you think of the coalition’s decision to cancel Smokefree measures intended to stop young people, including an over representation of Māori, from taking up smoking? Enabling them to use the tax revenue to give other people a tax cut?David Cormack summed it up well:It seems not only ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago
  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #47
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 19, 2023 thru Sat, Nov 25, 2023.  Story of the Week World stands on frontline of disaster at Cop28, says UN climate chief  Exclusive: Simon Stiell says leaders must ‘stop ...
    1 week ago
  • Some of it is mad, some of it is bad and some of it is clearly the work of people who are dangerous ...
    On announcement morning my mate texted:Typical of this cut-price, fake-deal government to announce itself on Black Friday.What a deal. We lose Kim Hill, we gain an empty, jargonising prime minister, a belligerent conspiracist, and a heartless Ayn Rand fanboy. One door closes, another gets slammed repeatedly in your face.It seems pretty ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • “Revolution” is the threat as the Māori Party smarts at coalition government’s Treaty directi...
    Buzz from the Beehive Having found no fresh announcements on the government’s official website, Point of Order turned today to Scoop’s Latest Parliament Headlines  for its buzz. This provided us with evidence that the Māori Party has been soured by the the coalition agreement announced yesterday by the new PM. “Soured” ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago
  • The Good, the Bad, and the even Worse.
    Yesterday the trio that will lead our country unveiled their vision for New Zealand.Seymour looking surprisingly statesmanlike, refusing to rise to barbs about his previous comments on Winston Peters. Almost as if they had just been slapstick for the crowd.Winston was mostly focussed on settling scores with the media, making ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • When it Comes to Palestine – Free Speech is Under Threat
    Hi,Thanks for getting amongst Mister Organ on digital — thanks to you, we hit the #1 doc spot on iTunes this week. This response goes a long way to helping us break even.I feel good about that. Other things — not so much.New Zealand finally has a new government, and ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 week ago
  • Thank you Captain Luxon. Was that a landing, or were we shot down?
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Also in More Than A FeildingFriday The unboxing And so this is Friday and what have we gone and done to ourselves?In the same way that a Christmas present can look lovely under the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • Cans of Worms.
    “And there’ll be no shortage of ‘events’ to test Luxon’s political skills. David Seymour wants a referendum on the Treaty. Winston wants a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Labour’s handling of the Covid crisis. Talk about cans of worms!”LAURIE AND LES were very fond of their local. It was nothing ...
    1 week ago
  • Disinformation campaigns are undermining democracy. Here’s how we can fight back
    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Misinformation is debated everywhere and has justifiably sparked concerns. It can polarise the public, reduce health-protective behaviours such as mask wearing and vaccination, and erode trust in science. Much of misinformation is spread not ...
    1 week ago
  • Peters as Minister
    A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record.1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is not even an entry in Wikipedia. ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Further humanitarian support for Gaza, the West Bank and Israel
    The Government is contributing a further $5 million to support the response to urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, bringing New Zealand’s total contribution to the humanitarian response so far to $10 million. “New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life and the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

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