Julia Gillard’s swift despatch last week of Kevin Rudd added a new dimension to the often brutal brand of politics practised in Canberra. If there were tears shed by Rudd’s colleagues, they weren’t visible. In Wellington relief was palpable. Rudd’s interventions had frustrated NZ in different theatres. He unilaterally pushed taking Japan to the International Court of Justice over whaling at a time when NZ’s Sir Geoffrey Palmer had come so very close to resolving the conflict within the IWC. Rudd refused to listen to NZ’s advice on the issue. Then he had pushed very hard for NZ to become part of an ANZAC force in Afghanistan, serving in one of the most dangerous sectors. Again this conflicted with NZ’s own strategy.

Rudd’s ambition to reorganise world affairs through his role in the G20 didn’t wash in Wellington, and since NZ didn’t acknowledge his concept of Aust as a “middle power,” Rudd was reluctant to do NZ any favours. With Rudd out of the equation, NZ did not have to pursue what might have been an awkward summit in Wellington, scheduled for this week, where some of the differences might have emerged. Though early in his term Rudd had been enthusiastic about accelerating progress on the single economic market, and there have been important advances through the efforts of other Ministers, sensitive issues like the mutual recognition of imputation credits on dividends remain unresolved.

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Aust officials have recently reiterated their opposition to any move on imputation credits, and it will need intervention at the highest level to achieve a breakthrough. Similarly the import of NZ apples into Aust needs a political jolt if the WTO ruling is to be accepted within the Canberra bureaucratic jungle. It remains to be seen whether Gillard, as Aust’s new leader, will seek to heal some of the wounds left by Rudd in the Aust-NZ relationship. Hopes are not necessarily very high among senior Ministers here.

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