Warm meeting at White House for Prime Minister
Ardern “greatly heartened by the nature of the discussion” with US president Joe Biden this morning
Mōrena and welcome to The Bulletin for Wednesday, June 1, by Anna Rawhiti-Connell. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.
In today’s edition: hospitals overloaded; minister to head to Fiji; National/Act get hard no from Te Pāti Māori; but first, the prime minister's meeting with the president.
US President Joe Biden prime minister meets Jacinda Ardern. (Photo: Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Before we start, my apologies for the late arrival of the Bulletin this morning as I compiled coverage from the PM’s visit to the White House. Many open browser tabs caused my computer to crash. Onwards.
“Good to see a not so old and good friend"
As prime minister Jacinda Ardern exited the White House after her meeting with US president Joe Biden this morning, she said she had “jacket regret”. It’s a steamy 33C in DC at the moment. Inside the Oval Office the diplomatic temperature seemed warm during the pre-meeting remarks. As former prime minister Helen Clark told Toby Manhire the real value in these face-to-face meetings is the establishment of a rapport and a relationship. The leaders shared some laughs and stories of family members who’d served in the Pacific. In response to Ardern opening her remarks with “Can I say Mr President…”, Biden interjected saying “You can do anything you want”. Biden began his remarks by saying it was "good to see a not so old and good friend." Newshub has the full clip of the pre-meeting here.
Biden wants to work together on Christchurch call
The mood was expectedly sombre as Ardern offered condolences on behalf of Aotearoa, New Zealand for the Buffalo and Uvalde shootings and offered to share what New Zealand had learned about gun control. Speaking about the shootings, Biden slightly misquoted a William Butler Yeats poem saying “too long a suffering makes a stone of the heart”. So far US coverage of the meeting has zoned in on Biden’s comments about his time with the families of the victims in Uvalde as gun control continues to dominate the national conversation. He responded to Ardern’s offer by saying the work being done with tech companies on the Christchurch call was really important and he wanted to work “with you” on that.
Meeting runs over time
The meeting, scheduled for an hour, ran for 90 minutes. As Anna Burns-Francis said in her report for Breakfast this morning, the New Zealand contingent will be very happy about that. After the meeting, Ardern held a press conference outside the White House. She was asked about China, the Pacific, the Christchurch call, Ukraine, gun law reform and the CPTTP. Climate change was also covered in the meeting. Ardern had already said yesterday that there wouldn’t be any “announceables” from the meeting. In a joint statement released after the meeting, Ardern said New Zealand was happy to join the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) but wanted it to be meaningful. "We believe it can assist with the removal of non-tariff barriers and seed greater economic cooperation and integration." When asked whether she’d “given up on the CPTPP” she said no.
Ardern heading home today
Tuning into the live streams made me nostalgic about getting yelled at in the Capitol building in DC. East coast efficiency was on display as White House staff cleared the room after the opening remarks and then a path for the motorcade after the press conference. Biden has a packed schedule today meeting with the Federal Reserve chair and hosting K-pop (Korean pop) supergroup BTS to discuss hate crimes targeting Asians. Sadly for BTS fans asking Ardern on Twitter whether she can get them to come to New Zealand, she will be long gone from the White House by the time they turn up. The prime minister is heading home today on a commercial flight. The rest of the delegation remain in DC waiting for the New Zealand defence force plane to be repaired. Godspeed and keep cool.
Artist Fiona Pardington’s photography of huia has served to preserve the beauty and sacredness of the extinct native bird and acted as a warning about the fragility of our indigenous species. In an unexpected shift, her new body of work, Manawarahi: Female and Male Huia Lovers MTG Hawke’s Bay (2022) will be released as an NFT exclusively with Glorious Marketplace at 7pm tonight. In a two part release, the first image of the huia will be available immediately to purchasers and a second yet to be revealed image will drop within 12 months. Manawarahi features an edition of just 100, priced at $2000.
Head to the Glorious Marketplace for more information and read more about Pardington’s work on The Spinoff (sponsored).
Emergency departments overwhelmed
Several reports from hospitals around the country point to emergency departments being extremely stretched. Hutt Hospital’s emergency department is asking patients not to turn up unless they need urgent attention. Dr John Bonning of the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine said unwell health staff was one of the main factors in the “challenging” situation many district healths boards faced right now. Canterbury District Health Board (DHB) had over 170 of its staff off sick with Covid-19 yesterday. The Herald has also reported that a woman with typhoid fever had to sleep in her car overnight because of bed shortages at Middlemore hospital.
Pacific Minister head to Fiji
Aupito William Sio is traveling to Fiji today to meet with Pacific ministers. Sio is also associate foreign affairs minister. Foreign affairs minister Nanaia Mahuta has been under pressure about our relationships with the Pacific since the signing of a pact between the Solomon Islands and China, and the Chinese foreign minister’s recent tour of the Pacific. The Herald’s Audery Young (paywalled) has a fair point about the impact of Covid on access to Pacific countries but does say Mahuta will need to be in catch-up mode as borders open up.
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Coalition with National and Act gets a “hard no” from Te Pāti Māori
The Guardian’s Eva Corlett reported yesterday that Te Pāti Māori has ruled out going into coalition with National and Act. Co-leader Rawiri Waititi said it was “because of the Act part of them, and the rhetoric that’s coming out of Act is emboldening racism across this country”. A leaked (it’s often leaked) Talbot Mills poll out yesterday had Labour slightly ahead of National. On the "right track/wrong track" metrics 51% of people believed the country was on the "right track", up two points, and 40% of people believed the country was on the "wrong track", down three points. Talbot Mills polls for the Labour party but this was done for corporate clients. It was taken before the 1 News Kantar poll and before the budget and climate policy announcements. The next election is still many months away.
Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz
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Empty seats at Lords for Black Caps vs England test
Reports have emerged that 20,000 seats may be empty at Lords for the first test between New Zealand and England which starts at 10pm on Thursday (NZT). Absolute cracker of a line here from Stuff’s sport reporters: “There has been no apparent surge in interest since the MCC announced last month that floral decorations and bunting around the Home of Cricket will be swathed in the colours of the flag during the June 2-6 test, as part of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Test.” Turns out a bit of bunting isn’t enough to get cricket fans over the line when tickets cost $308 (NZD).
The Spinoff’s Toby Morris wins the Prime Minister’s Science Communication
Huge congratulations to Toby who was awarded the Te Puiaki Whakapā Pūtaiao, the Prime Minister’s Science Communication yesterday in recognition of his work with Dr Siouxsie Wiles throughout the pandemic. Here’s the box-set of their work. It's been shared online by the Washington Post, Buzzfeed, Wired, the Guardian and NPR. Their work has been adapted and used in official government public health campaigns in Australia, Argentina, Germany, Scotland and Canada and used by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in refugee camps.
