When Chippy met Albo: How did PM Chris Hipkins go on his trip to Australia to meet Anthony Albanese?

OPINION:

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins’ dash to Canberra to bond with Australia’s PM Anthony Albanese was far more about the meeting than the meat.

The Prime Ministers emerged after their talks to announce that nothing had changed since before the talks.

There they stood, Albo and Chippy, men with nicknames and similar politics, and both in the checked suits that are clearly the uniform for the men from Labour/Labor, Albo’s a light grey and Chippy’s a dark blue and slightly baggy after his summer slim-down.

They talked over a lunch of scampi. They exchanged gifts, a pounamu and vinyl records of Australian artists. Hipkins had expected them to get on well, and afterwards reported that they had indeed got on well. He would hardly say they loathed each other, but it was almost certainly true.

There was a delicious nod to a past scandal: when Hipkins went into Australia’s Parliament, the former leader of the Nationals, Barnaby Joyce, went up to him and made a joke about New Zealand citizenship - Hipkins was once implicated in helping an Australian Labor Party staffer work out whether Joyce was a New Zealand citizen.

However, the trip was partly a reassurance exercise after the switch of Prime Minister from Jacinda Ardern to Chris Hipkins.

It was to seek reassurance that nothing had changed from Albanese’s point of view, especially in terms of his promises around a more lenient 501s policy, and progress on citizenship issues for New Zealanders in Australia (other than Joyce of course). A follow-up on that is expected on Anzac Day.

And it was to reassure Albanese that not much had changed from New Zealand’s point of view either, despite the disappearance of Ardern. In short: New Zealand will not be demanding more than Albanese was willing to move on. There will not be a tit-for-tat.

That was just fine, because the visit was also a bit of a boot camp for Hipkins on how to act on the international stage. He did okay - mainly because he could simply say that his position was the same as it ever was.

Hipkins fended off questions on a range of issues from China to the Aukus defence deal, to 501s, by saying that nothing had changed in New Zealand’s position.

That is better than inadvertently causing a diplomatic incident through over-confidence or overplaying his hand.

There were clearly some nerves for Hipkins ahead of that visit, although he probably need not have worried.

As far as diplomatic engagements go for new Prime Ministers, Australia is the easiest entree.

It is also the most important.

The two countries often speak together - and sometimes for each other - on the international stage. Prime Ministers need to work out how they will operate together, what issues they stand together on - and which they don’t.

The relationship is pretty much always set at very good - but it slides up and down the scale of very good, often depending on who is in charge at any given time.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gives Chris Hipkins albums by Australian artists.

Hipkins has the good fortune to coincide with Albanese - one of the friendliest towards New Zealand in recent history. Ardern has already done much of the hard work on getting gains for New Zealand out of him. Hipkins’ job is to ensure that stays on track and comes to fruition while Albanese is there.

Hipkins is a bit of a rookie when it comes to international affairs and he admits that. Few Prime Ministers do get that experience until they become Prime Ministers. When they do, the Australian Prime Ministers can be valuable in making introductions.

Hipkins has some much larger appointments looming. King Charles’ coronation in May will double as a chance to meet the European leaders. There’s the Pacific Islands Forum and Hipkins is still deciding whether to pick up Ardern’s plan for a trade delegation to China.

Although this visit means he has now been into Australia’s Parliament as Prime Minister before going back to New Zealand’s Parliament, with an election in eight months his primary focus will be domestic rather than international.

He has focused on pitching on domestic issues (albeit affected by global issues) such as the cost of living and crime, rather than the global ones.

Hipkins follows in the steps of prime ministers who made an art form out of international relations in their own ways: most notably Ardern, Sir John Key and Helen Clark.

Building those relationships takes time and repeat engagements, usually at international summits. Hipkins does not necessarily have that time - but October could deliver it to him.

While he may have been in a different country, some things remained the same there as at home: anti-vax protesters were parked outside the NZ High Commission hollering in his general direction.

There was Dame Annette King, a political mother to Ardern and Hipkins from their earlier years. Now the High Commissioner in Australia, she stood among the media enjoying the show while Hipkins was speaking - occasionally offering her own running commentary on questions. At one point, he was asked what advice she had given him. “Heaps,” she said, not quite beneath her breath.

Hipkins’ start has meant he has not yet had time to invest in the wardrobe for such events - so she might want to advise him to invest in a tidier pair of shoes.