Key Points
- Jacinda Ardern has become the first world leader to visit newly-elected Anthony Albanese on home soil.
- They will hold bilateral talks today. Here's what they're expected to discuss.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern have pledged to take trans-Tasman relations to a "new level" after talks that spanned climate change, regional tensions and the deportation of New Zealand citizens.
It was the first meeting between the pair since Mr Albanese was sworn in as prime minister three weeks ago, and Ms Ardern said his election after there had been "some points of friction" with the previous government, led by former prime minister Scott Morrison.
"There’s obviously still issues to be worked through... but in my mind, yes, this does represent a reset," Ms Ardern said.
Ms Ardern said she could not think of two countries that had a closer bond.
"When I say that we are family, I mean it very sincerely," she said.
Mr Albanese said he and Ms Ardern were "determined to take trans-Tasman relations to a new level".
"What that means is new jobs, new growth, new opportunities to co-operate," he said.
Calling Ms Ardern a "personal friend", Mr Albanese said there was a lot of common ground discussed during the bilateral talks and that will translate to stronger action on Australia's climate change policy.
He said Australia was now out of the climate change "naughty corner" it had been in "for nine years" under the previous Morrison government.
To mark that moment, he said work will begin on formally presenting an updated climate target to the United Nations as part of the Paris climate deal, which aims to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Labor took a 43 per cent by 2030 emissions cut target to the 21 May election, while the Liberal-National Coalition stood by its 26 to 28 per cent target.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his New Zealand counterpart, Jacinda Ardern, spent Thursday evening together with a dinner at Kirribilli House before observing the light show over Sydney Harbour as part of the Vivid festival. Credit: Prime Minister's Office
"You can't have a circumstance whereby you have the former defence minister, now leader of the Opposition, standing around and people making jokes about people drowning," Mr Albanese said, referring to now captured inadvertently on a live microphone.
Mr Dutton has apologised repeatedly for the comment about "water lapping at your door".
The trans-Tasman leaders spent time together on Thursday evening, having dinner at Kirribilli House before walking through the grounds of the residence, taking in the view of the Vivid festival light display over Sydney Harbour.
The pair also exchanged vinyl records, with Mr Albanese gifting Ms Ardern with vinyl records of Midnight Oil, Spiderbait and Powderfinger, and Ms Ardern returning the favour with a few selections from independent New Zealand label, Flying Nun Records.
"I know that he enjoys music and so I shared with him a few from the Flying Nun label in New Zealand - Aldous Harding, The Clean, Compilation," she told the Nine Network.
She said the exchange so far has been warm and the two leaders were "genuinely happy to see each other".
Deportation issue a 'bugbear'
A key issue during the bilateral talks on Friday was the deportation of criminals from Australia to New Zealand who do not have familial or community ties to the country.
Ms Ardern's government believes many of those deportees arrive untethered, without support networks, and can be destitute or join gangs.
Describing the issue as a "bugbear", she said she wants to see it resolved.
"What we have simply asked is that there's greater reciprocity," she said.
"There are people who are being deported from Australia who, for all intents and purposes, are Australian. They have zero connection to New Zealand - sometimes not even having stepped foot there. That's the place that we're asking for that consideration to be given."
Mr Albanese signalled more openness to reviewing Australia's position on the issue, but did not announce anything concrete on Friday.
He said he will be taking the approach of listening closely to Ms Ardern's concerns on this and other issues.
"How do we have open dialogue about what the challenges we [both nations] face? How do we talk about a common interest?
The issues of climate change, citizenship and the deportation of New Zealanders were raised during the formal bilateral talks held between New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (right) and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left). Source: AAP / Mark Baker
Nationals leader David Littleproud said Australia should still be able to determine how it handles people who commit crimes in the country.
"If you do the wrong thing in this country, you should pay the penalty," he told reporters in Canberra.
"If it's a deterrent that you might go back to New Zealand, then it keeps our society safe, then why wouldn't we?"
Hopes for a path to citizenship
Roughly 700,000 Kiwis live in Australia - around 14 per cent of New Zealand's population - but most are denied access to a range of services, including unemployment and disability support, or the right to work in public service or defence roles.
New Zealanders in Australia say they feel optimistic by the election of the new Labor government in Australia and hope plans can progress for Kiwis to move towards citizenship in Australia.
The previous Coalition government had rejected such an option, Joanne Cox from the Oz Kiwi group she has been waiting for the moment a Labor Australian prime minister would meet with a Labour New Zealand prime minister.
"We've been waiting for a Labor-Labour meeting since we started," she told news agency AAP.
"Citizenship is the magic bullet for us, a lot of the rest is tinkering at the edges."
Additional reporting: AAP
