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Download AudioFormer New Zealand First MP Shane Jones says new Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has a host of domestic issues to tackle before he turns his attention to trans-Tasman friction.
He says the highlight of the weekend election was probably the departure of former immigration minister Peter Dutton, who drove the stigmatisation of Kiwis in the rohe.
The new Labor or Labor-led Government will need to reset Australia’s approach to climate change and grapple with challenges like inflation and the cost of living.
Mr Jones says he was struck by how much of Mr Albanese’s language and tone reflected that of New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern.
“He featured on television using the term kindness and that’s generally not a term one associate with Australian politicians. They are a lot more strident and they can be a lot more acidic than us Kiwis,” he says.
Mr Jones says the rise of the so-called Teal vote in previously safe blue seats in Sydney and Melbourne shows how the Scott Morrison Government was hurt by a perception women’s safety was being compromised, including revelations about harassment of female staff in parliament.
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