Take that, Scott Morrison

Scott Morrison. Photo: ODT files.

No idea? The answer is Australia or, to be fairer and more specific, the Australian Federal Government, given there are many decent people who live on that large sunburnt island just off the coast of New Zealand who do not deserve tarring with the same brush.

It takes some guts to stand up to your big brother or sister, particularly if they are known for being bullies. But Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has clearly had enough of the way New Zealand is treated by the nation which is supposed to be our closest friend and ally.

At a press conference on Friday afternoon with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Ms Ardern pulled no punches on the issue of Australia deporting back to New Zealand Kiwi citizens who are barely that, having lived most of their lives in the "Lucky Country".

The venue and her choice of occasion for the condemnation of Mr Morrison and his Liberal Party Government’s draconian policies seemed especially juicy, with the instantly recognisable roofs of the Sydney Opera House, one of Australia’s most well-known landmarks, behind them.

While Ms Ardern deployed a more diplomatic form of rattling Mr Morrison’s cage than the heckling handed out by some of those affected by this summer’s bushfires, it was no less devastating. She may not have refused to shake his hand, nor told him to "p... off", as the residents of New South Wales’ Cobargo did, but she clearly took the wind out of his sails.

"We have a simple request," Ms Ardern said. "Send back Kiwis — genuine Kiwis. Do not deport your people and your problems."

While she accepted that some of the more than 2000 people were "genuine Kiwis", there were those who were "too young to become criminals on our watch".

"We will own our people. We ask that Australia stop exporting theirs."

The moribund Mr Morrison replied: "You commit a crime here, you’re convicted, you do your time, you go home." There was no way that policy would change, he said.

It is probably fair to say that "closest friend and ally" sobriquet has taken quite a beating. Whatever your view of our prime minister — and it is, of course, only six months now until the general election — what she articulated to Mr Morrison on his home turf took some courage.

She said what needed to be said, taking her counterpart by surprise with the strength of her words. It was good to see she did not resile from talking tough — after all, other Kiwi politicians have travelled overseas in recent years promising to deliver powerfully worded messages of protest but instead merely faded milquetoast-like into the background.

Remember Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ efforts to, in his words, "put the record straight" for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, before the Anzac Day commemorations and after the Christchurch mosque shootings last March?

Instead, Mr Peters appeared to fall asleep at an important meeting and then admitted he did not question Mr Erdogan over why he was playing the video made by the mosque attacker.

Ironically, it was on that occasion the Australian prime minister spoke out strongly against Mr Erdogan’s approach, summoning Australia’s Turkish ambassador for a stripping down.

Ms Ardern says the continuing erosion of the rights of New Zealanders in Australia is testing the long-standing transtasman relationship. There is probably also little doubt now that the personal links between the two leaders will be somewhat strained.

We should not be worried about that, or feel cowed by that, in any way.

By these actions and by others when it comes to migration, refugees and their treatment, Australia continues to show itself to the world as a backward and unenlightened nation.

We should be pleased we live in New Zealand, a much fairer and more just country in many ways.