Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahut. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahut. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Opinion
OPINION
She was in the job 11 days and Australia's new Foreign Minister Penny Wong had already made three international trips.
Wong has travelled as much in a week and a half as our Foreign Minister, Nanaia Mahuta, has in a year and a half.
Mahuta can't continue to usethe pandemic as an excuse for her failure to travel. The world is opening up. Wong is proving that.
Mahuta should be travelling as much as Wong is, and to the same places. China's move into the Pacific is a direct result of the West - including New Zealand - neglecting it.
It's not clear why Mahuta isn't travelling; whether it's health- or workload-related. Either way, this can't continue. Not now that China has raised the level of threat against us.
China's taken umbrage at the White House statement released after PM Jacinda Ardern's meeting with US President Joe Biden.
That China told us off publicly is nothing new. China often does that. But this week's threat looked to some like a threat to punish us economically.
That would be a disaster right now. It would be a disaster at any time, but especially now with our economy on the possible brink of a recession.
It's hard to know whether China actually means to back up words with actions. But even if it doesn't, the situation is delicate. The Foreign Minister needs to be fully focused on the rapidly changing Pacific situation.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, right, with Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Mata'afa. Photo / AP
You can't say Mahuta is. And you can't say Mahuta will be. The next few months might be quite busy for her at home.
Her Three Waters reforms could get hairy. Already, it's a train wreck. Much of that is her fault. She failed to sell the idea to councils. She then hoodwinked them. She told them it was voluntary, then quietly passed Cabinet papers making asset confiscation mandatory.
Already the reform is controversial. The Māori co-governance aspect is raising ire. There are signs up and down rural roadways opposing the reform. It could get even more controversial later this year as councils go to local body elections. It wouldn't be stupid for wannabe councillors and mayors to campaign on a platform of trying to stop the reform. All that extra media attention will need managing. That will only add to her workload.
Then there's the personal stuff. Act's already raised questions in the House about the appointment of Mahuta's family members to government jobs. At least one media outlet has run a story.
The outlook for Mahuta isn't good. She's got a lot on her plate domestically and potentially even more in the months to come. She probably can't give her Foreign Affairs job the necessary attention. Right now especially, Foreign Affairs is more important to New Zealand than anything else she may or may not do.
The outlook for the PM isn't good either. Ardern will find it hard to shuffle Mahuta out of the job. Mahuta has too much power. She is a kaumatua in Labour's Māori caucus and that caucus holds a lot of power.
If Ardern can't move Mahuta on, she might have to step up and quietly do a lot of her Foreign Affairs work for her.
In the meantime, Mahuta has a target on her back. The opposition parties can sniff blood and they're coming for her. The fact that the brand new Foreign Affairs Minister across the Ditch is outperforming her from the word go won't help.
Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive, Newstalk ZB, 4pm-7pm, weekdays
