- The Australian and New Zealand Prime Ministers met in Queenstown on Sunday for their first face-to-face meeting since borders closed in 2020
- Scott Morrison and Jacinda Ardern said the two-day talks will likely broach the topics of a “rulebook” for life after COVID, China–Australia trade tensions and the potential to expand the trans-Tasman travel bubble
- Hours before Prime Minister Morrison landed in Queenstown, New Zealand Trade Minister Damien O’Connor said the Ardern government was backing Canberra in the trade dispute with Beijing
- This comes even as New Zealand and China strengthen their own trade relationship, with an upgraded free trade agreement signed earlier this year
- Meanwhile, Prime Minister Morrison said an expanded travel bubble is also on the cards, with countries like Vanuatu and Fiji potential new travel destinations
The Australian and New Zealand Prime Minister met in Queenstown on Sunday to discuss life after COVID-19 and Chinese trade tensions in their first face-to-face meeting since borders closed in 2020.
The formal talks will begin this week and go for two days.
New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern said she was looking forward to writing the “rulebook” for how both countries would approach a reopening world as the horrors of the coronavirus pandemic slowly subside.
Prime Minister Morrison said the talks with his Kiwi counterpart will focus on both regional security and biosecurity in light of the pandemic and in the context of Victoria’s scramble to contain its latest outbreak.
He said Australia and New Zealand are “two countries that have weathered the storm of COVID arguably better than any two countries anywhere else in the world, both from saving lives as well as saving livelihoods.”
“And so the opportunity to come here over the course of this next 24 hours and to work through the many lessons of that experience but also the partnership, that it can continue to reinforce our mutual success combating COVID and the economic response to COVID as well I think, is a very good opportunity,” the Australian PM said.
When asked if this week’s talks are because of New Zealand’s “soft approach” to China, the Prime Minister said “no”.
Nevertheless, Prime Minister Morrison touched down in New Zealand just hours after the New Zealand government voiced its support for Australia in its trade dispute with Beijing.
Australia–China trade woes
The relationship between Australia and China has soured significantly over the past 18 months after Prime Minister Morrison led calls for an investigation into the origins of COVID-19 and banned Chinese company Huawei from Australia’s 5G network.
In the months after, China imposed strict tariffs on Australian products like barley, beef and wine — a move which has been staunchly criticised by Australian producers and politicians.
Ahead of Prime Minister Morrison’s arrival in Queenstown, New Zealand Trade Minister Damien O’Connor said the Ardern government was backing Canberra in the trade dispute.
“New Zealand is participating in this dispute as a third party because it raises systemic issues of importance to the effective functioning of the multilateral rules-based trading system,” the Trade Minister told local media.
“New Zealand was not asked to join as a third party. However, we have been a third party in over 60 World Trade Organisation cases since 1995 and it’s not unusual for us to join actions disputes when we see challenges to international trade rules,” he explained.
The comments come even as New Zealand’s own trade relationship with China has strengthened in recent months, with the two countries upgrading a major free trade agreement just this year.
Expanded travel bubble on the cards
While nothing has been confirmed just yet, Prime Minister Morrison floated the idea that the two PMs could discuss an expansion of the current trans-Tasman travel bubble to include Pacific islands like Vanuatu and Fiji.
“We’ve had a number of those discussions, and the New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and I, we speak quite regularly about these issues, and particularly about the issues in the Pacific. Together, we’re putting some 7,500,000 vaccine doses into the region. The Pacific is our family,” the PM said.
He added that while Fiji is going through a “difficult time” at the moment, Australia and New Zealand are supporting the country through that in the hopes that the travel bubble could be expanded to surrounding islands.