Australia’s latest leadership debacle is causing amusement across the Tasman, with even the New Zealand prime minister’s partner getting in on the act.
“New Zealand, hold your prime minister tight tonight, you don’t know how lucky you are ... actually I think you do,” tweeted comedian Peter Helliar on a day when not one but three politicians are vying for Australia’s top job.
“Done,” tweeted Jacinda Ardern’s partner, Clarke Gayford, now a stay-at-home father to the couple’s daughter, Neve Te Aroha.
— Julie Marshall (@NZJulieMarshall) August 23, 2018
Anytime I feel a bit gloomy about NZ democracy I just look across the Tasman and the Aussies never fail to disappoint. #politicalmess
— Brent Edwards (@journobedwards) August 23, 2018
I'm releasing this #auspol headline for free use by other media: NO USE CRYING OVER SPILT MALC
— Patrick Crewdson (@PatrickCrewdson) August 22, 2018
The jokes flowed thick and fast as Australia descended into what is being described as a “farcical” race for the top job.
In the New Zealand Herald, Newstalk ZB political editor Barry Soper wrote an opinion piece titled “Aussie politicians – they like a blood soaked carpet”.
“This week the ruling Liberal party’s been like a pack of dingoes rounding on their prey, the mega-rich former banker Malcolm Turnbull who’s been fighting them off in a losing battle,” wrote Soper.
“By comparison leadership changes in this country are like a simple changing of the guard; sure there’s tension if there’s a contest, but they tend to put their best foot forward rather than aiming it where the sun don’t shine.”
In their morning bulletin, the Spinoff asked “How will lucky country chaos affect NZ?”
“In Australian politics today, something will happen,” wrote Alex Braae.
“Sorry, I can’t really be any more specific than that, because the events of yesterday were so bizarre, and the possibilities today are endless.”
The NZ Greens MP Gareth Hughes, who is currently in Canberra, wrote that “the seemingly never-ending political upheaval is getting in the way of big decisions – like what to do about climate change”.
“Political spills are as quintessentially Australian as that image of the dingo eating the washed-up shark on the beach while two snakes mate in the foreground,” wrote Hughes.
“I’m in Australia witnessing the political drama unfold and I’m asking myself why the so-called lucky country has been so unlucky when it comes to the political stability stakes ... One politician had to cancel on a meeting at the last minute to deal with ‘you know what’. People are constantly checking their phone to see if the country still has a prime minister.”
The veteran Australian political reporter Kerry-Anne Walsh phoned into her weekly Radio NZ spot with the words: “Ah good-morning, reporting from the land of madness”, causing host Susie Ferguson to dissolve into laughter.
“I just thought it [spills] was tradition,” said Ferguson, deadpan.
