Press conference – Wellington, New Zealand
CHRIS HIPKINS, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: Kia ora koutou. Good afternoon. It’s a real pleasure to have been able to welcome Prime Minister Albanese to Wellington today for the annual leaders’ meeting. This was the third formal bilateral meeting that we’ve had since I became the Prime Minister of New Zealand at the beginning of the year. Of course, we also had the opportunity to catch up at the King’s Coronation and at the NATO summit in Lithuania, where we extended our commitment to Ukraine and reiterated our ongoing opposition to Russia’s illegal invasion. Shortly, we’re going to be meeting for a beer at the Football World Cup fan zone on the waterfront. It’s great to see this tournament so well received by fans, and it’s another example of successful Australia-New Zealand partnership. The fact that we’ve met so many times in a short space of time, I think reflects the strength of the trans-Tasman bond. Our relationship is in very good heart, evidenced by the historic pathway to citizenship for New Zealanders living in Australia that was announced earlier this year. New Zealand has no better friend and no greater ally than Australia, although I couldn’t help but be pleased with the Warriors’ golden point win against the Raiders over the weekend. Prime Minister, I’m not sure that the top of the table match-ups help your Rabbitohs all that much in this part of the season. But in all seriousness, having a neighbour who is also a close friend is absolutely essential for our economic prosperity, security and wellbeing of all of our citizens. This year marks 40 years of closer economic relations, 50 years of the trans-Tasman travel relationship and 80 years since the establishment of diplomatic missions in each of our countries. It’s important to mark these important milestones in our relationship. They’re the platform on which we can also build so much more. There are so many more opportunities in the future. They are too good and too important for us to ignore. We agreed today to a bilateral road map setting out our shared ambition for cooperation over the next decade. It’ll focus on building sustainable, inclusive and resilient economies, on being active partners in the Pacific, ensuring our region’s security and stability, championing international rules and ensuring that our people-to-people links continue to grow. One area where there’s immense opportunity for New Zealand and Australia to strengthen our collaboration is on climate change, a subject that we were able to discuss today. I want to acknowledge the significant shift in Australian climate change policy over the last year. We believe that working together to combat climate change globally and especially in our region, is critical. It’s the single greatest existential threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of our Pacific partners. Whether it’s wildfires, cyclones or floods, both our countries are experiencing the effects of climate change now. So I’m looking forward to continuing to find ways to work together in the battle against climate change. Our work together in the Pacific was on the agenda. We want to support the Pacific Islands Forum and its members to work collectively to address the strategic and security issues that are facing the region. We agree that working through Pacific-led regional processes is essential. On strengthening our economies, the 40th anniversary of CER is a significant waypoint in our relationship and we need to work together to ensure that CER remains world leading as it has been for the last 40 years. Now’s the time to plan those next steps. And we’ll be continuing our integration through support of the single economic market in which people and businesses can have domestic-like experiences in each other’s countries. I think that’s pretty special. And pushing ahead with new aspects of integration will continue to be a focus. We’ll continue to work to make it easier to engage and trade and tourism, research and development, investment and promoting innovation. Prime Minister Albanese and I committed today to revitalise the joint working group on initiatives to move closer towards seamless travel across the Tasman. We’ve asked that working group to report back by 30 June next year on additional steps that we can take to continue to improve that pathway. We also agreed to the negotiation of a sustainable and inclusive trade declaration to promote an integrated and climate-focused approach to the economies on both sides of the Tasman. We’re also facing increasingly challenging, more turbulent and less stable regional and global orders. Both of our countries are fully focused on responding urgently to these changing dynamics and will continue to work closely together to support one another’s efforts. We’ll continue to prioritise coordination, to support a stable and resilient region and defend and advance the international rules based system that we’re both committed to. So, Prime Minister, thank you once again for travelling to Wellington. It is great to be able to host you here.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA: Well, thank you very much, Prime Minister Hipkins, and thank you for the very warm welcome that I have received and the Australian delegation have received here today for what is my first visit to New New Zealand as Prime Minister. It’s always great to visit New Zealand and feel the friendship, warmth and familiarity between our two nations. I’ve always known how close our countries are and this visit has underlined for me just how important that is to our shared future. We’re neighbours. We’re friends. We’re family. We can take on challenges and opportunities together. Our two nations share common values. This is a proud time, it must be said. Our closeness, I think, is exemplified by the fact that we are sharing the hosting duties of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, the third largest event that’s held around the world. We are using that opportunity to showcase the best of ourselves and how great we can be when we do things together. I wish the Ferns all the best for the rest of the tournament. And, of course, I wish the Matildas all the best. I wish you all the best unless we play each other. Then, of course, we will be rivals for that 90 minutes plus injury time. During this visit, we are marking important milestones. 80 years of diplomatic relations between our two countries. 50 years of allowing our people to live, work, and travel on both sides of the Tasman, and, importantly, 40 years of what is still the world’s best gold-standard trade agreement. Our special bond is also reflected in our visa and citizenship arrangements. And I’m so pleased that as of this month it’s now easier for New Zealanders who call Australia home to become Australian citizens. This is a change that was long overdue. It was the right thing to do, and it was a fair thing to do. And I was delighted that you, Prime Minister, were able to visit Brisbane to mark that important moment in our bilateral relationship. And I can report that already there’s been over 10,000 people apply for that, and I’m sure that number will increase significantly in the months ahead. While we celebrate our history, today has also been about looking to the future. Australia and New Zealand stand together as partners who share a common vision for peace, security and prosperity in our region. And we stand together to uphold the rules-based international system. Prime Minister Hipkins and my attendance at the recent NATO summit in Lithuania highlighted that this vision is not limited by our geography. Both of our countries have suffered the global economic consequences of Russia’s illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine. It is a reminder that the world is increasingly a challenging place to navigate and that maintaining stability requires our work, attention and vigilance. We live in a world where we need friends, partners and allies like New Zealand. We always get better results when we work together. And that’s why today the Prime Minister and I have agreed to a new trans-Tasman road map to 2035. The road map recognises that our trans-Tasman relationship is a significant asset for both countries to meet the challenges and build on the opportunities which are ahead of us in the coming decade. The road map also identifies how we will harness our collective strengths for the good of our countries, for the good of our people and for the good of our region: our shared commitment to building prosperous economies and to climate action, our partnership with the Pacific family, our defence cooperation and our deep economic and community ties, all deliver for our people. Two-way travel links our people and drives economic opportunities. And that’s why we want to make this a much more seamless experience for the benefit of both of us. And we’ll report back in time for the next leaders’ meeting, which will hold in July of next year. It is important that we make sure all that the Australia-New Zealand trade relationship is fit for modern times. And that’s why Prime Minister Hipkins and I agreed that our Ministers will pursue a sustainable and inclusive trade declaration. This will ensure our trade partnership aligns with our climate ambitions, our commitment to gender equality and labour standards, and our support for a more sustainable future. Australia and New Zealand will also continue supporting Pacific priorities, working together to respond to our shared challenges, including on climate change. We’re delivering real action on climate change at home and in partnership with the Pacific, the broader region and the world. And today we talked about how together we can achieve much more in terms of delivering that change that’s required in the Pacific and that our Pacific neighbours are asking for support on. It is a chance for us to shape our future instead of being shaped by it. A chance to create economic opportunities for our people to boost new industries and to become renewable energy superpowers. Our annual leaders’ meeting, including the very useful discussion the Prime Minister and I have just had together with our teams, are so important to us. So, thank you, Prime Minister, for our meeting today. As you’ve said, our fifth meeting in a very short period time. And I thank you very much for hosting me and my delegation.
JOURNALIST: Would you consider a trans-Tasman passport? And also on citizenship, did you expect thousands and thousands of Kiwis to take this up?
PRIME MINISTER ALBANESE: There have already been thousands take up – more than 10,000 – and I expect that there will be many thousands more. This brings us into alignment with what New Zealand does for Australians. And that’s why it’s the right thing to do. When Prime Minister Ardern first raised this with me I established a working group and we were able to deliver with Prime Minister Hipkins this important change. It’s all upside, no downside. And it just recognises that for many New Zealanders who call Australian homes, they’ve been living and working in Australia, some for decades. But the costs, I think it was around about $4,000 to apply for a visa and then going through all the bureaucracy the way that it was, it was as if we had made it more difficult than it needed to be. And making it easier is the right thing to do. We haven’t looked at a trans-Tasman passport. What we are looking at is making a seamless experience of going through from country to country. So that might look at, for example, how smart gates could operate and be complimentary, our systems, so that before you get on a plane, in either country, it’s already recognised that you’re okay to come in and therefore, can just go through smart gates in a seamless way and in a timely way as well. We have many business opportunities between us. The fact that business people will go from country to country regularly, what we want to make sure is that that experience is the best it can possibly be, and that efficiencies can be gained by doing so. Officials have already done a lot of work. We want to complete that by June of next year. We’ve brought that date forward, by the way, from where it was anticipated to be. If we can do it even before June next year, I’m sure the Prime Minister Hipkins and I would be willing to do that as well. But we want to make sure it was put in place as a matter of urgency, because it is really a commonsense response.
JOURNALIST: How will you work together to counter the rise of China in the Pacific and also Prime Minister Hipkins? How likely is it that New Zealand will be part of AUKUS based on today?
PRIME MINISTER HIPKINS: New Zealand and Australia share many common views on the increase in geostrategic competition throughout our region. And of course, it’s been an ongoing topic of conversation between our two countries over the last couple of years, and particularly in the last six months that Prime Minister Albanese and I have been having conversations about that. I’m sure that we’ll continue to compare notes, we’ll continue to share insights and we’ll continue to work together on those issues. Around AUKUS, I think there’s no question that we have a different position around nuclear, nuclear propulsion is also covered by New Zealand’s nuclear free arrangements. But in terms of military, we were open to conversations with the AUKUS partners around what New Zealand’s involvement in some of those things might look like. It’s early days yet. So there’s no formal kind of proposals on the table. But we ultimately are open to continuing that conversation.
PRIME MINISTER ALBANESE: We had a really constructive discussion today about defence interoperability, about our engagement and how we can make sure that we both benefit from the sort of engagement that you’re seeing at the moment. Indeed, Talisman Sabre is an example of where we can cooperate more. We talked as well about our common engagement with the Pacific, where we have a common view about the strategic challenges that are being faced in the Pacific, about the need to work with members of the Pacific family. We both play an important role in the Pacific Island Forum. The meeting that will come up in November in the Cook Islands, that will be an important event going forward. I see that we can really both benefit from the increased cooperation between us. We’ve had our Defence Strategic Review, New Zealand’s going through similar processes as well. From our perspective, it’s been: ‘What are the defence assets that we need and where do we need them? And part of that is AUKUS but it’s much more than that as well. We’re dealing with a range of announcements that we will see rolled out as well, consistent with the Defence Strategic Review as we’re working those things through. This is a heritage that goes back to the ANZACs and before World War One. It is important that we acknowledge that history and we’ll be doing that tomorrow morning at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior here in Wellington. I’ll be with the Prime Minister laying a wreath there. That’s always a great honour to pay tribute to the sacrifice that our men and women did together often wearing the same Anzac banner. And so building on that history is something that we can continue to do in the future.
JOURNALIST: How closely are you analysing Te Tiriti o Waitangi – the Treaty of Waitangi – and Aotearoa New Zealand’s government’s partnership and duties with Maori as an example of this best engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander First Nations people?
PRIME MINISTER ALBANESE: Our history is, of course, quite different. And the Treaty of Waitangi is New Zealand’s founding document. One of the things that I say is that of Australia’s founding document, our Constitution, of all the first world nations that were former colonies, we are alone in not recognising the First Nations peoples and that our history in Australia goes back before 1788 and that should be acknowledged in our nation’s founding document. But what Australians are being asked to do in the last quarter of this year is a very clear and specific referendum that will be held. They’ll be asked to vote Yes or No to the proposition that’s just about three things: one, that recognition in our nation’s founding document; but secondly, it’s about Recognition through a Voice or an advisory body to Parliament and government on matters affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in order to get better outcomes. That’s what our referendum is about. I respect New Zealand’s history. It is different from ours. And I was honoured this morning, it must be said, to receive such a wonderful welcome here in the Parliament, from the traditional owners. But our histories are different. And what is being asked to vote for is very clear and very specific. In Australia there is a debate going on. And it’s important that people know what the vote is for and what it is not, it is for those specific things of recognition, listening in order to achieve better outcomes. That’s what the vote in Australia will be for.
JOURNALIST: Did you discuss Australia’s upcoming referendum on a Voice to Parliament? And just reflecting on New Zealand’s own experience, how important is reconciliation with First Nations peoples, for building bridges in the Pacific, and ensuring that a family-first approach prevails?
PRIME MINISTER ALBANESE: We have discussed not just today, but Prime Minister Hipkins and I at other times have discussed Australia’s referendum. And of course, it is a matter for Australia what Australia determines. It’s moved beyond the Parliament, so it’s a matter for the Australian people now to determine. I think reconciliation, though, is is something that is very important. One of the things that we discussed today and it was an issue last week in the meeting that was held here in New Zealand as well, there were Australian Indigenous businesses having dialogue with Maori businesses as well about the opportunities that are there going forward, the economic opportunities that are there for advancement as well. In addition, when I talk with people in in the Pacific, including here in New Zealand, people are watching what Australia will determine with the referendum in the last quarter of this year. There is a consciousness of First Nations people and about respect for First Nations people, including the issue of advancing reconciliation. I have a firm view of support for Yes in the referendum going forward. And certainly, what I find and talking with people in the Pacific, there is a consciousness about the referendum that will be held in the last quarter. But of course, that’s a matter for the Australian people to determine.
PRIME MINISTER HIPKINS: As Prime Minister Albanese has already mentioned, the debates in New Zealand and Australia are very, very different, very different starting points. And I certainly respect the fact that the referendum in Australia is a matter for the Australian people, and I don’t intend to proffer a comment on that. But in terms of your question about reconciliation, I can certainly speak to the New Zealand experience. More I’m firmly of the view that the process of reconciliation that New Zealand has been going through for a number of decades has been overwhelmingly positive for New Zealand. That doesn’t mean that there haven’t been bumps on the road. It doesn’t mean they haven’t been periods where it’s been very controversial. But when I look back on some of those controversies, many of which have happened during my lifetime and actually even during my adult lifetime, actually things moved on. Yes, they were controversial at the time. And now many people would look back on them and wonder what was so controversial about them, because the reconciliation process has ultimately been very positive. So reconciliation isn’t really a word that we use so much. We call them Treaty settlements. The Treaty settlements process has been very positive for Maori. It has given them due recognition of what happened in terms of historic wrongs, but it has also created a platform on which the Maori economy is continuing to grow and prosper and thrive. One of the things that we did talk about today was Indigenous trade, and the fact that in New Zealand, our Maori economy is increasingly engaging with the rest of the world, a number of our larger exporters now have a very strong Maori shareholding within them, if not ownership within them. So they are very invested and interested in and broader international discussions around trade as well. So I acknowledge that from time to time there will be bumps, there will be controversies. But from the New Zealand perspective, as somebody who’s who has lived and grown up in New Zealand during this period, I’m very proud of what we have been able to achieve as a country. We’ve still got a way to go. But I think New Zealand is a stronger country for it.
JOURNALIST: Is there a place when New Zealand in the so-called political AUKUS as you see it? And in terms of governance? What do you want to see New Zealand? And what do you want to see New Zealand do in defence? Would you like to see New Zealand raise its defence spending?
PRIME MINISTER ALBANESE: That’s a matter for New Zealand as a sovereign government to determine its own defence policy. But one of the things that we can certainly do is – in the context of whatever it is that it decides – one of the things that we say as friends and as co-Five Eyes nations as well: we already have an important relationship in defence. And one of the things about pillar two is about is essentially use of technology. So whether it be formal arrangements, there are no plans at this point in time to extend beyond the AUKUS pillar one and pillar two arrangements. But that doesn’t mean that there won’t be cooperation across a range of areas as well, including access to technology, including complementarity, including interoperability. It makes sense for nations which cooperate defensively for part of the democratic world to have increased cooperation. And in part, you’ve seen that with what’s now the Indo-Pacific Four that Australia and New Zealand, Japan and Korea have done at the last two NATO summits. You also see in terms of defence cooperation, and we spoke about this explicitly today, that with the response to emergency situations, including natural disasters which are becoming unfortunately more common due to climate change, one of the things that we discussed or the context, if you like, of increased defence interoperability was just that. Australia and New Zealand are good friends with each other but we’re also good friends with the Pacific family. So when there have been events in the Pacific, we come and help in the Pacific as well. Now our defence engagement can be important in that. It’s also been important for each other’s each other’s nations. I remember doing flyovers as the Transport Minister here with the ship that was stranded off the North Island, the North Coast there many years ago. Just as we thank New Zealand for always been there when we’ve had the bushfire crisis, for example in 2019-2020. New Zealand assets were deployed in Australia, so it makes sense for us to have cooperation as much as possible.
PRIME MINISTER HIPKINS: Prime Minister, I want to acknowledge that in my first few weeks as Prime Minister of New Zealand, we had Cyclone Gabrielle here in New Zealand. And in fact, one of my early trips to the regions affected by the cyclone was on an Australian Air Force plane because the Australian and New Zealand militaries cooperate in these kinds of natural disasters. And I think that we definitely saw that following the cyclone where there was a lot of cooperation, a lot of sharing of resource. And I want to thank you for that. I think that just really highlights the importance of the relationship between our two countries when it comes to defence. It’s not just about military capability. It’s also about the disaster response and so on. And that goes with all of that.
JOURNALIST: Just back on regional stability and security, what specific measures are you possibly looking at implementing to ensure that smaller Pacific Island nations turn to Australia and New Zealand first and not China?
PRIME MINISTER ALBANESE: Well, firstly, one of the things that we’ve been doing is advancing agreements with those nations, be though Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, other nations in the region. We’re also making it clear that Australia and New Zealand are reliable partners. We’re part of the Pacific family and part of the determination at the last meeting of the Pacific Island forum that was held in Fiji was about the Pacific family providing security for ourselves and helping each other. When Australia provides aid and support to our neighbours there aren’t strings attached. We do that because we are part of the Pacific family and that’s important. So we’ll continue to work constructively. And that work is aided if we’re working together in the region, which we certainly will continue to do, and I think in an even more concerted than we have in in the past. But in the Pacific, we have a range of of meetings that we’ve discussed. The meeting’s that I’ve had – I’ll be welcoming the relatively new Prime Minister of Fiji to Canberra in the next month. That follows up from the welcomes that we’ve had from leaders from Samoa, Nauru, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, other nations in the region as well. So we will continue to engage with each other. I welcome the fact that Minister Conroy is currently visiting the Solomon Islands and he’s reaffirmed the Solomons declaration that Australia remains the security partner of choice. That’s very important for our region, that we continue to work constructively, work together, do so with respect for the sovereignty of the nations that make up the Pacific family. But in recognition that together as a family, it’s much stronger than just individual nations.
PRIME MINISTER HIPKINS: Can I also reiterate New Zealand’s shared commitment with Australia to a family first approach when it comes to working in the Pacific. We are countries of the Pacific, in the Pacific, committed to supporting our Pacific neighbours. We recognise their sovereignty and their rights to make their own decisions and determine their own course in the future. We want to make sure that our relationships are very strong with those countries so that they do look to New Zealand and Australia as their preferred international partners as they have throughout a long period of history. I think that the work that New Zealand and Australia do together through things like the Pacific Islands Forum is incredibly important. We’re absolutely committed to continuing down that path.