Jacinda Ardern not letting Australian Govt's ructions get in the way of 'good and strong relationships'

August 21, 2018

The PM says the trans-Tasman relationship continues regardless of the political environment in Australia.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is not letting current ructions within Australia's Government get in the way of the trans-Tasman relationship.

Her Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull claimed victory in a leadership challenge today, defeating Peter Dutton in a party room ballot in Canberra by 48 votes to 35.

Mr Dutton resigned from the cabinet after rejecting an offer to stay as Home Affairs minister, and declined to rule out another challenge, which some MPs believe will be mounted soon.

On this side of the Tasman, Ms Ardern was asked about the political situation in Australia while attending a repatriation ceremony at Auckland Airport for the remains of 27 Kiwi soldiers who'd been buried in Malaysia and Singapore for a number of years.

"Oh look, regardless of what's happening in the political environment in Australia our focus is of course maintaining good and strong relationships," Ms Ardern told reporters. 

She noted that Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters is meeting with his Australian counterpart Julie Bishop tomorrow.

"Our relationship continues regardless of the political environment," Ms Ardern repeated.

She said regardless of who will replace Mr Dutton in his portfolios, "we'll be looking to have that same constructive relationship, and we'll continue to raise the same issues that we always have".

Asked about tomorrow's discussions between the foreign ministers, Ms Ardern said, "Of course we have a range of issues that we consistently discuss.

"But a big focus for us regionally at the moment is the Pacific reset, the work that we do together in the Pacific region, particularly important as we go into the Pacific Islands forum in the not too distant future."

Asked will the issue of deportations of New Zealanders from Australia be raised, Ms Ardern said that's "consistently raised". 

"It's an issue that we raise both privately and publicly. We've seen a number of cases where in our view we've had deportations where people just have no connection to New Zealand, and we'll continue to raise that."

Mr Dutton adopted a hard line on deportation of foreigners who've served 12 months or more in prison or are deemed a threat to Australia.

When asked does she think things will change now that Mr Dutton has left the portfolio, Ms Ardern said, "Our position will remain the same regardless. As for Australia, I couldn't speak to that."

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