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According to the British Independent on the 8th, New Zealand Prime Minister Laxon said that the New Zealand government deleted the Maori language in the invitation letter to Australian officials, which was not a disrespect for the indigenous language. On the contrary, he joked that it was actually in line with the need for "extremely simple" language when talking to Australians.

The report pointed out that Laxon's remarks seemed to be an attempt to imitate the New Zealand folk's love of mocking "Australians are stupid". Prior to this, he deleted the Maori phrase from the invitation letter sent to Australian Arts Minister Tony Burke.

New Zealand Prime Minister Laxon Photo source: Visual China

"When I deal with Australians, it's always very simple and clear and in English," Lacson said of the invitation, according to the report.

In response, Australian Prime Minister Albanese responded on the 8th with a joke often told by Australians, saying that "no one can understand the New Zealand accent." He said that communication between the two sides sometimes requires translation, and added that he sometimes "misses" what the New Zealand prime ministers before Laxon said.

"Look, we're good friends and good partners," Albanese continued, joking, "and even though we do speak different languages ​​sometimes, we all think we're speaking English."

The report pointed out that there is a precedent for the leaders of the two neighboring countries, New Zealand and Australia, to tease each other. The most famous example was when then-New Zealand Prime Minister Muldoon joked in the 1980s that New Zealanders who immigrated to Australia "raised the IQ of residents of both countries at the same time."

The British newspaper The Independent said the incident diverted attention from the current tense atmosphere in the New Zealand parliament. In recent weeks, allegations of bullying, racism and insults have thrown parliament into chaos and even reduced MPs to tears, with New Zealand Prime Minister Laxon urging "all political leaders to be careful with their words."

The report said that since winning the 2023 New Zealand general election, some practices of the Laxon-led coalition government have sparked a heated debate about race in the country. One of them is to restore the English names of government agencies and have many official agencies remove the use of Maori phrases in documents.