All Black sidesteps Court appearance, how builders are working around the GIB shortage and the Government gets called out for spending too much in the latest New Zealand Herald headlines. Video / NZ Herald
Jacinda Ardern has been warmly greeted back to Australia for the first time since 2020 by Anthony Albanese, with the two swapping records "mostly by chance".
But Albanese's choice of music has been sledged by Ardern's fiance.
The New Zealand leader touched down in Sydney on Thursday ahead of aday of bilateral meetings on Friday, but headed straight to Kirribilli House for dinner with her Australian counterpart.
She is the first foreign leader to visit the new Prime Minister on Australian soil.
Ardern told the Today show she and Albanese had been "genuinely happy to see each other" and catch up over dinner before Friday's formalities.
She brought a number of New Zealand records for Australia's new leader and Albanese also returned the gesture, a move Ardern said was not surprising given her and Albanese's shared love of music.
"I know that he enjoys music and so I shared with him a few from the Flying Nun label in New Zealand – Aldous Harding, The Clean, Compilation," she told the Nine Network.
Clarke Gayford's comment on Ardern's Instagram post.
"He looks genuinely happy. In exchange, I got Powderfinger, Spiderbait and Midnight Oil."
But her fiance, Clarke Gayford, wasn't too impressed with Albanese's choice of music.
"Midnight Oil, Spiderbait and The Finger????!!!! What is this, 2004???" he commented on his fiancee's Instagram post.
When asked why a record swap had never happened with former prime minister Scott Morrison, Ardern took the diplomatic route.
"We talked about music on one occasion, but I'm not sure I would have picked necessarily the right music if I was given that task," she said.
Ardern and Albanese will use their bilateral meeting to discuss the rise of China, climate change and other issues facing the Pacific region.
Lovely dinner with @jacindaardern this evening. I’m looking forward to our bilateral meetings tomorrow where we will discuss all that our countries have in common. pic.twitter.com/EZ0tbqXU1H
Ardern will also push Albanese to change discretionary aspects of Australia's deportation policy.
"Our issue is not with deportation, we deport as well … But when someone comes here and essentially, hasn't really had any connection with New Zealand and have all their connections in Australia and are essentially Australian, sending them back to New Zealand is where we've had the grievance," she said.
"We've never asked deportations as a general rule to stop. We won't be hypocritical about it.
"It's just those extraordinary cases that trouble us.
"I've raised it. I want to give the PM some time to consider it … (but) I would like to see movement on it."
Cost of living is also expected to feature in today's bilateral meeting, considering New Zealand's inflation is currently at 6.9 per cent and Australia isn't far behind.
"These are tough, tough times," Ardern said.
"Speaking with one voice, the conflict in Ukraine is incredibly important to try and bring that to an end … But also continuing to work together to ease supply-chain constraints.
"All of us are hoping that in the latter part of this year it will all be resolved."
