Richard
Larsen, Producer – 30′ with Guyon
Espiner
Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm
Turnbull has criticised New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston
Peters over his decision to fire New Zealand’s former High
Commissioner to the United Kingdom Phil Goff, describing the
move as surprising and a sign of weakness in the face of
Donald Trump’s foreign policy threats.
In an interview
on 30 With Guyon Espiner, Turnbull said he was taken
aback by Peters’
sacking of Goff following comments the diplomat made
questioning Trump’s understanding of history at a Chatham
House event.
“I was really surprised by that because
I’ve met Winston Peters a few times and I thought he would
have been stronger, to be honest with you,” Turnbull said.
“Phil Goff’s question was not an unreasonable one. He wasn’t
saying Trump was a terrible person, or crazy, or a
narcissist or anything like that.”
Turnbull also took
aim at Peters’ dismissal of concerns about an escalating
trade war, after the NZ foreign minister characterised such
talk as “hysterical
and short-sighted.”
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“Did he say that seriously? I
mean, you’re getting into parallel universe stuff because
the whole world is talking about a trade war. Trump’s
talking about a trade war. Trump tweeted not so long ago,
‘Trade wars are good and easy to win’,” Turnbull
said.
Drawing on his own experience dealing with Trump
during his time as Australian prime minister, Turnbull
warned New Zealand against adopting a posture of
appeasement.
“I think showing weakness and
subservience to Trump is a major, major mistake. I say this
from my own experience, but there are so many examples you
can point to,” he said.
Turnbull noted that the impact
of US tariffs on New Zealand might be limited but warned of
broader risks to the global economy.
“You’ve got a 10
percent tariff, which is the lowest tariff they’ve imposed.
It may be that’s not the end of the world,” he said. “The
real issue for us beyond, is that if this trade war results
in a global recession, which I think it will, if it
continues, and if it results in slower economic growth in
China, which I think it will, if it continues, that is going
to have an impact on everybody, including Australia or New
Zealand.”
Turnbull emphasised that while countries
like Australia and New Zealand should avoid self-defeating
retaliatory tariffs, both countries should continue to
advocate firmly for fair trade terms.
“The point that
we should be making is that it is utterly unreasonable of
them to put any tariff on us,” he said.
RNZ put
Turnbull’s comments to Peters for a response.
A
spokesperson replied via email to say: “There are seven
living former prime ministers in Australia, and eight here
in New Zealand. If we responded every time one of them
exhibited relevance deprivation syndrome, that’s all we
would do.”
They referred RNZ to a media
statement from 11 March that stated Goff’s comments made
his position as New Zealand High Commissioner “untenable,”
and that Peters’ decision to remove Goff from his position
was “a very difficult one.”
For the full,
uncut conversation with Malcolm Turnbull, watch 30
with Guyon
Espiner.
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