Rob Rattenbury: Another hit in naive belief NZ and Australia are mates

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern meets her Australian counterpart, Scott Morrison. Photo / File

OPINION

Poor old Scott Morrison. The Australian Prime Minister has had a few upsets lately.

He recently got ticked off by our Prime Minister for surreptitiously removing the citizenship of ISIS bride Suhayra Aden who was, until 2019, a dual citizen of Australia and New Zealand, leaving New Zealand at the age of 6 to live in Australia.

Aden, for whatever reason, headed to Syria to join Isis and is now a refugee in Turkey facing charges after her attempt to cross the border with two of her children, both small.

Then Facebook, in retaliation for a move by the Australian Government to rein in the power of big tech companies, blocked news and various other items from about 17 million Australian Facebook users.

Morrison scored a political coup when he removed Aden's citizenship. She is easy to pick on, an Isis bride, Muslim, with children to two different fathers and, possibly her biggest problem, a New Zealander by birth, not even "a real Australian".

Australians could not give a toss about upsetting the New Zealand Government or the people of New Zealand. The mistaken belief that we are all mates has once again taken a hit. The average Australian in the street probably does not even know about Suhayra Aden and her children.

Morrison and Ardern are still on speaking terms, they have to be because of our trading and travel links. Morrison, though, looks to the partners of the G7 and G20 for approval more than doing New Zealand any favours.

Australia looks to Europe and America for comfort and reassurance. New Zealanders, in most Australian eyes, are at best country cousins, at worst just a bunch of bunnies led by a progressive Prime Minister more interested in compassion and empathy for those less fortunate than the more fortunate citizens of both countries.

Morrison is conservative and will not hesitate to put Australia's interests above New Zealand's, knowing it will garner him strong support from an electorate still with deep-seated wrong attitudes to racial equality and decent treatment of its first citizens.

Rob Rattenbury. Photo / File

Frankly, Australia is well behind New Zealand in the humanitarian stakes - and deep-down they know it, but do not know how to address the historic wrongs.

It was interesting to watch Morrison pontificate that he will always act in the interests of Australia in matters of terrorism, basically bullying New Zealand, then turn around and say he will not be bullied by the big tech companies over proposed law changes to Australia's News Media Bargaining Code, which will limit the companies' access to Australia.

How will this end? Australia will carry on its merry way, continuing to export some of its worst criminals to New Zealand despite most living almost their entire lives as Australians and having little or no family support on this side of the Tasman.

These exports will find their way into our criminal justice system, causing havoc within the prison system as happened at Waikeria recently, bolstering the intelligence and numbers of New Zealand's homegrown gangs together with the importation of gangs like the Comancheros.

These criminals have transtasman links to help their nefarious enterprises and to provide the expertise needed to eventually take over and run the New Zealand underworld.

Suhayra Aden and her children will come back to New Zealand soon; the Turkish authorities have decided not to charge her, just deport her and her children. She is ours, sadly, and it is not the fault of her children that their mother is who she is.

The New Zealand Government could revoke her citizenship but that will not happen on Jacinda Ardern's watch.

Australia repeatedly shows New Zealand that it is not to be relied upon in international affairs or as our supposed Anzac mate, and New Zealand consistently pouts, stamps its foot but then complies meekly.

Australia is big, New Zealand is small and that's how it works in international affairs. Australia wants to play with the big girls and boys and is not keen on having to stay home and care for its little cousins in the Pacific.

What can New Zealand do? Short of declaring war and invading Australia, there is probably not a lot we can do. We do not have thousands of Australians who offend enough to require deportation under our laws.

As a people we are more easy-going and fair than Australians about certain matters and would find it difficult to treat people the way the Australian Government does.

It says a lot about the differences in the Australian and New Zealand character when international cricket teams who regularly get beaten by the Black Caps prefer to come here to play than to tour Australia.

The evident camaraderie and closeness between the Black Caps and touring teams is not mirrored by interaction with the Australian cricket team.