Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says it would "very difficult to build trust" with a Labour government should the opposition party win the upcoming New Zealand election. NZN Video / Adrian Muscat
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has denied overstepping the line in saying she would find it hard to trust a Labour Government - and says she takes Jacinda Ardern "at her word".
As the fall-out from Labour MP Chris Hipkins involvement in the citizenship saga surrounding Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce continues, Bishop appeared on Sky News Australia and was repeatedly asked if her extraordinary comments went too far.
"Not at all," Bishop said.
"After I said that the New Zealand Labour leader came out and conceded that the conduct was wrong, that it was unacceptable, that it should never have happened."
Asked by host Kieran Gilbert if she accepted Ardern's comments and would now move on, Bishop said "I take her at her word".
Gilbert suggested Bishop had made her comments because New Zealand was a smaller country, telling Bishop she wouldn't have made the same comments if an MP was involved in China, Indonesia, or India.
"I reject that," Bishop said.
"I reject the fact it seems to be acceptable conduct in the minds of the commentariat here for the shadow minister for foreign affairs to use her office to set-up a Labour MP in New Zealand to ask questions in the New Zealand Parliament."
Julie Bishop at Parliament house, Canberra, this week. Photo / AP
Ardern last night moved to quell a ruction with the Australian Government, telling Australia's High Commissioner the actions of MP Chris Hipkins were inappropriate and refusing to criticise Bishop for her comments on Labour, saying she did not wish to inflame the situation further.
Ardern is this morning in Christchurch where she launched a new mental health policy.
Asked if Bishop was interfering in New Zealand's election, Ardern said she had made it clear she didn't want the controversy to get in the way of the Australia-New Zealand relationship.
"I would welcome a conversation with the Minister to clarify from our perspective what has happened. And to, again, make sure that we impart how important our relationship is. And I'm not letting this issue get in the way of that.
"My focus is on our election here in New Zealand. That is where people would expect my focus to be. Politics is a constant rock and a hard place - I'm currently wedged between Ayers Rock and New Zealand.
"But ultimately, leadership is about dealing with these issues as they arise. I have dealt with it. This is not going to disrupt our relationship with Australia, and now we have an election to get on with."
On Foreign Minister Gerry Brownlee's criticisms of Labour, Ardern said she would expect opponents to make politics out of the situation.
Ardern called in High Commissioner Peter Woolcott after Bishop said she could not trust a future Labour Government if it had colluded with Australia's Labor Party to try to undermine the Government by uncovering the fact Joyce was a New Zealand citizen.
Ardern said she told Woolcott MP Chris Hipkins' actions were inappropriate in asking questions that related to the issue of citizenship by descent after a conversation with an Australian Labor Party staffer, but stopped short of apologising.
The Sydney Morning Herald has reported Marcus Ganley, Australian Senator Penny Wong's chief of staff, was the Australian Labor Party staffer who spoke to Hipkins - a conversation Hipkins said prompted him to ask questions of Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne on the legal citizenship status of an Australian born to a New Zealand father.
The question of New Zealand citizenship of Australian ministers was raised again this week after it was revealed Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce was a New Zealand citizen. Today Joyce told Parliament he had renounced his citizenship.
Ganley was an adviser to former PM Clark and former Finance Minister Cullen during the Labour Government until 2008. He then advised Phil Goff as Opposition Leader.
Hipkins has denied knowing there were questions about Joyce's citizenship, saying he asked the questions of Dunne to clear up the law.
Wong told the Australian Senate today questions about Joyce's citizenship had been asked by the media for some time, including in July.
"The story became public as a result of media inquiries.
"At no stage did my staff member request that questions be placed on notice in the New Zealand Parliament. End of story.
"Second, I did not know, nor did my staff member, that the New Zealand Labour Party had placed those questions on notice, until the story had broken. He did not know, and neither did I, until Monday."
Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne said it was a "silly spat" and described Australia Foreign Minister Julie Bishop's comments as "unwise."
"This is a fraught time for them as the consequences are pretty dramatic."
Questions remain about whether Labour MP Chris Hipkins' questions were a factor in officials looking into Joyce's situation.
When Joyce revealed he was a New Zealand citizen in Australia's Parliament on Monday, he referred to New Zealand officials looking into it after inquiries by the NZ Labour Party.
Dunne remained adamant it was a journalist which prompted the inquiries, and said he did not know how Joyce had known of Hipkin's questions or any involvement by the Labour Party.
"There's quite a long trail about what was known at what time."
Dunne's version of events conflicts with Foreign Affairs Minister Gerry Brownlee , who has said Hipkins' questions were a prompt for the DIA investigating.
Hipkins lodged his questions two days after an Australian journalist asked about the same scenario of an Australian with a New Zealander father.
It is understood when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was first briefed by Internal Affairs, both the journalist's and Hipkin's questions were referred to.
An Australian journalist asked questions about the legal status of an Australian with a father born in New Zealand last Monday and Hipkins lodged his questions last Wednesday, August 9.
On August 10 officials looked at it and on the Friday advised the Ministry of Foreign Affairs it was likely Joyce was a citizen so the High Commission could handle it.
The High Commissioner Chris Seed told Joyce, who revealed it publicly on the Monday in Parliament.
In Australia's Parliament today, Bishop had backed away from her criticism of NZ Labour but continued to criticise Australia's Labor Party and accused them of trying to use New Zealand Labour for their own ends.
Bishop said she had accepted Ardern's explanation that it was inappropriate for MP Chris Hipkins to have asked questions on the matter.
"The Labor Party are misleading the Australian public and New Zealand Labour, no less, have judged what they were asked to do by the ALP as "inappropriate, unacceptable, wrong and should not have happened."
Both Hipkins and ALP Senator Penny Wong, whose chief of staff had spoken to Hipkins about the issue, said ALP had not asked Hipkins to lodge the questions.
Bishop also referred to conflicting versions of whether an Australian journalist or Hipkins had prompted New Zealand officials to look into the matter properly.
She said it was wrong to say a journalist had led to the investigation by officials given Foreign Affairs Minister Gerry Brownlee had said Hipkins' questions were responsible for that - contrary to claims by Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne.
Bishop said Penny Wong's chief-of-staff, who was an advisor under the former NZ Labour Government, would have known New Zealand officials would be forced to answer a formal Parliamentary question from an MP but could ignore a journalist's question.
"The ALP set up the New Zealand Government. As PM Bill English said, these are serious issues and there were significant misjudgements by the New Zealand Labour Party about urging them to interfere in the Australian political process."
ALP members repeatedly ridiculed Bishop's claims, taunting her for exposing a "treacherous, treasonous, international conspiracy."
ALP members questioned Bishop about her comments about New Zealand, including asking how Bishop could boast of her relationship with countries such as Iran and Russia when she could not work with New Zealand.
