My bet? Ardern says the EU-NZ FTA needs more work

PM Jacinda Ardern is in Europe (Image: Getty).

Thu, 30 Jun 2022

Prime minister Jacinda Ardern is between a rock and a hard place on the New Zealand-European Union free trade deal and my bet is she walks away.She’s not going to quit. She’ll just say it’s very close, but more talks are needed. That’s much easier to spin than a deal at any cost.The issue is – as always – agricultural access and a less than perfect deal would be too much of a political hot potato. Think Groundswell protests, on steroids. Representatives from the dairy and meat sector are on t...

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