US President Joe Biden prime minister meets Jacinda Ardern. (Photo: Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
US President Joe Biden prime minister meets Jacinda Ardern. (Photo: Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The BulletinJune 1, 2022

‘Good to see a not-so-old and good friend’: Ardern meets Biden at White House

US President Joe Biden prime minister meets Jacinda Ardern. (Photo: Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
US President Joe Biden prime minister meets Jacinda Ardern. (Photo: Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Ardern was ‘greatly heartened by the nature of the discussion’ with US president Joe Biden this morning, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell for The Bulletin.

 

‘Good to see a not-so-old and good friend’

As prime minister Jacinda Ardern exited the White House after her meeting with US president Joe Biden this morning, she said she had “jacket regret”. It’s a steamy 33C in DC at the moment. Inside the Oval Office the diplomatic temperature seemed warm during the pre-meeting remarks. As former prime minister Helen Clark told Toby Manhire, the real value in these face-to-face meetings is the establishment of a rapport and a relationship. The leaders shared some laughs and stories of family members who’d served in the Pacific. In response to Ardern opening her remarks with “Can I say Mr President…”, Biden interjected saying “You can do anything you want”. Biden began his remarks by saying it was “good to see a not so old and good friend.” Newshub has the full clip of the pre-meeting here.

Biden wants to work together on Christchurch call 

The mood was expectedly sombre as Ardern offered condolences on behalf of Aotearoa, New Zealand for the Buffalo and Uvalde shootings and offered to share what New Zealand had learned about gun control. Speaking about the shootings, Biden slightly misquoted a William Butler Yeats poem saying “too long a suffering makes a stone of the heart”. So far US coverage of the meeting has zoned in on Biden’s comments about his time with the families of the victims in Uvalde as gun control continues to dominate the national conversation. He responded to Ardern’s offer by saying the work being done with tech companies on the Christchurch call was really important and he wanted to work “with you” on that. 

Meeting runs over time

The meeting, scheduled for an hour, ran for 90 minutes. As Anna Burns-Francis said in her report for Breakfast this morning, the New Zealand contingent will be very happy about that. After the meeting, Ardern held a press conference outside the White House. She was asked about China, the Pacific, the Christchurch call, Ukraine, gun law reform and the CPTTP. Climate change was also covered in the meeting. Ardern had already said yesterday that there wouldn’t be any “announceables” from the meeting. In a joint statement released after the meeting, Ardern said New Zealand was happy to join the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) but wanted it to be meaningful. “We believe it can assist with the removal of non-tariff barriers and seed greater economic cooperation and integration.” When asked whether she’d “given up on the CPTPP” she said no. 

Ardern heading home today

Tuning into the live streams made me nostalgic about getting yelled at in the Capitol building in DC. East Coast efficiency was on display as White House staff cleared the room after the opening remarks and then a path for the motorcade after the press conference. Biden has a packed schedule today meeting with the Federal Reserve chair and hosting K-pop (Korean pop) supergroup BTS to discuss hate crimes targeting Asians. Sadly for BTS fans asking Ardern on Twitter whether she can get them to come to New Zealand, she will be long gone from the White House by the time they turn up. The prime minister is heading home today on a commercial flight. The rest of the delegation remain in DC waiting for the New Zealand defence force plane to be repaired. Godspeed and keep cool.  

For more on Ardern’s time at the White House, including her separate meeting with vice president Kamala Harris, see live updates.

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The government has put supermarkets on notice – change at pace or face regulation
The government has put supermarkets on notice – change at pace or face regulation

The BulletinMay 31, 2022

Supermarkets warned: change fast or face regulation

The government has put supermarkets on notice – change at pace or face regulation
The government has put supermarkets on notice – change at pace or face regulation
newsletter

Supermarkets are on notice with the government going further than expected in its response to the Commerce Commission’s supermarket study. But change for shoppers won’t come quickly, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in the Bulletin.

 

Government drops the regulation hammer

“If supermarkets do not strike good faith wholesale deals with their competitors, our regulatory measures will make it happen for them.” So said the minister of commerce and consumer affairs David Clark yesterday. In announcing the government’s response to the Commerce Commission inquiry into supermarkets, Clark said the government was putting supermarkets on notice, and they needed to change “at pace”. The government agreed with 12 out 14 recommendations from the Commerce Commission but has gone further by threatening regulation of the wholesale access regime and will install a “watchdog” to provide annual reviews instead of an audit every three years. Stuff has an explainer on the changes here.

Sword still dangling

Stuff’s Susan Edmunds has taken a look at how much difference these changes might make for shoppers. In short, they probably won’t provide quick relief. Consumer NZ chief executive Jon Duffy says the changes are good but that the most interesting aspect is the work MBIE is undertaking around requiring major grocery retailers to divest some of their stores. It’s essentially a sword of Damocles left to hang over the supermarket’s heads. Managing Director of Foodstuffs NZ, Chris Quin has responded by saying “Foodstuffs is embracing the challenges laid down in the final report and by the Government to improve competition to benefit consumers.”

The proof is in the egg pudding we can’t afford to make 

The price of food has blown out into such an issue for people, Stuff has reporters running a food price “Amazing Race” over the next five days. It’s early days but they’ve uncovered price differences between supermarkets and regions that should have the good people of Waihi out protesting. Eggs that cost $5.85 at New World St Martins in Christchurch cost $8.69 at New World Waihi. The exact same brand of eggs! The same supermarket. The same commitment to price rollbacks. There may well be “plausible reasons” for this like transport costs, but the public isn’t in much of a mood to stomach them.

What’s riding on it for the government and the people who vote for them/buy food?

Obviously the government would like us to stop being outraged by the price of eggs. Politically, it needs to work as a salve to the blows it’s taken on the cost of living. The $350 allowance announced in the budget will be wiped out for many via interest rate rises which banks began rolling out yesterday. In the here and now they’ll be hoping it pushes supermarkets to do more to drop prices but commentators say real change won’t happen without more competition. Lastly, it’s an invitation to competitors who might’ve found hurdles like land covenants (dealt with via the budget) and wholesale access insurmountable. That will apply to local companies like the Warehouse, who Robertson namechecked a couple of times at the post-cabinet announcement, and perhaps overseas players like Aldi or Tesco.