Saturday, July 28, 2018
Pope accepts McCarrick resignation as cardinal amid sexual abuse allegations Former archbishop of Washington DC stands down - Guardian
Pope Francis
Pope accepts McCarrick resignation as cardinal amid sexual abuse allegations
Former archbishop of Washington DC stands down
Allegations concern sex abuse with minors and young men
Guardian staff and agencies
Sat 28 Jul 2018 21.32 AEST First published on Sat 28 Jul 2018 21.22 AEST
Theodore McCarrick has been removed from public ministry since 20 June.
Pope Francis on Saturday accepted the resignation of Theodore McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington DC and one of the most prominent figures in the US Catholic church, following allegations of sexual abuse, including one involving an 11-year-old boy.
Pope Francis has utterly failed to tackle the church’s abuse scandal
Catherine Pepinster
Read more
The Vatican said in a statement McCarrick, 88, sent his resignation letter to the pope on Friday night.
Recent weeks have brought a spate of allegations that in the course of his distinguished clerical career, McCarrick sexually abused both boys and adult seminarians. The revelations posed a test to Francis’s recently declared resolve to battle what he called a “culture of cover-up” of such abuse in the Catholic’s church’s hierarchy.
McCarrick has been removed from public ministry since 20 June, pending a full investigation into allegations he fondled a minor more than 40 years ago in New York City.
A man, who was 11 at the time of the first alleged instance of abuse, says a sexually abusive relationship continued for two more decades. McCarrick has denied the initial allegation.
Besides agreeing to McCarrick’s stepping down as a cardinal, Francis ordered him to conduct “a life of prayer and penance” until accusations against him are examined in a Catholic church trial.
McCarrick rose steadily through the US church, from auxiliary bishop in New York City, to bishop in Metuchen, New Jersey, to archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, and then to Archbishop of Washington DC, where the papal ambassador to the United States is based.
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While most scandals involving sexual abuse by members of the clergy have involved rank-and-file priests, some cases involved bishops and there are a few involving cardinals, including a current case in Australia involving one of Pope Francis’ closest advisers, Cardinal George Pell.
In the case of Scottish cardinal Keith O’Brien, accused by former seminarians in 2013 of sexual misconduct, Francis only accepted his resignation after the Vatican’s top abuse prosecutor conducted a full investigation, two years after the first revelations came out.
In its statement on McCarrick, the Vatican said: “Pope Francis accepted his resignation from the cardinalate and has ordered his suspension from the exercise of any public ministry, together with the obligation to remain in a house yet to be indicated to him, for a life of prayer and penance until the accusations made against him are examined in a regular canonical trial.”
Mark Zuckerberg Lost $15.1 Billion in 5 Minutes This Morning - TIME Business
Mark Zuckerberg Lost $15.1 Billion in 5 Minutes This Morning
Posted: 26 Jul 2018 07:32 AM PDT
(Bloomberg) — For many of the world’s richest people, losing $15.1 billion in five minutes would be a wipeout.
For Mark Zuckerberg, it’s just about a sixth of his net worth.
His fortune tumbled 17 percent in the first five minutes of trading Thursday, as shares of the social media giant slid 18 percent on disappointing second-quarter results. If that holds through the close, he’ll slide to sixth place from third on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a ranking of the world’s 500 richest people. It would also wipe out his $13.7 billion of gains for the year, leaving him with about $71 billion.
It’s an evaporation of wealth so big it would have erased much of these fortunes:
Charlene De Carvalho-Heineken — she’s the biggest shareholder of the world’s second-largest brewer, Heineken NV, and has a net worth of about $16.7 billion Iris Fontbona & family — Fontbona is the matriarch of Chile’s richest clan, which controls Antofagasta Plc, one of the world’s largest copper producers Leonard Lauder — chairman emeritus of Estee Lauder Cos Inc., one of the largest makers of cosmetics and fragrances Zhang Zhidong — the co-founder of Tencent Holdings Ltd., with a net worth of $16.2 billion Elaine Marshall — a director at Koch Industries Inc., the second largest closely held business in the U.S. William Ding, chief executive officer of NetEase Inc. with a fortune of $16 billion.
Facebook Takes Historic Plunge as Scandals Finally Take a Toll - TIME
Facebook Takes Historic Plunge as Scandals Finally Take a Toll
Posted: 26 Jul 2018 07:59 AM PDT
Facebook Inc. plunged as much as 20 percent Thursday after months of scandal and criticism finally hit the company where it hurts: growth.
The social-media goliath’s financial performance had previously seemed immune to fierce critiques of its content policies, its failure to safeguard private data, and its changing rules for advertisers. But on Wednesday Facebook reported sales and user growth numbers for the second quarter that fell short of analysts’ projections, leaving investors reeling.
The company’s shares fell the most in its history as a public company, wiping out more than $120 billion in market value. It marks the largest ever loss of value in one day for a U.S. traded company. The stock was trading at $179.92 at 9:41 a.m. in New York.
The company told Wall Street the numbers won’t get any better this year. Chief Financial Officer David Wehner said revenue growth rates would decline in the third and fourth quarters. Analysts who follow Facebook were blindsided, asking frequently on a conference call with executives for more information on exactly how the company’s financial future had changed so dramatically.
“I think many investors are having a hard time reconciling that deceleration,” Brent Thill, an analyst at Jefferies LLC, told Facebook executives, asking for a little more clarity on the reasoning. “It just seems like the magnitude is beyond anything we’ve seen, especially across a number of the tech (companies) we cover.”
Before the results, Facebook had 44 buy ratings, two sells and two holds. A few analysts tempered their outlook Thursday.
For Facebook, financial stumbles are rare. The last time the company missed revenue estimates was the first quarter of 2015. But the results followed a period in which data-privacy issues came under harsh scrutiny, with Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg testifying before U.S. Congress for hours on the company’s missteps.
The quarter was also marked by Europe’s implementation of strict new data laws, which Facebook said led to fewer daily visitors in that region. The company was bombarded by public criticism over its content policies, especially in countries such as Myanmar and Sri Lanka where misinformation has led to violence. And it continued to suffer fallout from investigations into Russian manipulation of the platform during the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
All of those problems are hitting amid a harsh truth for the company: Facebook, the social network with 2.23 billion active monthly users, can’t grow forever. “The core Facebook platform is declining,” said Brian Wieser, an analyst at Pivotal Research Group.
Facebook said it had 1.47 billion daily active users in June, compared with the 1.48 billion average of analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The company’s user base flatlined in its biggest market, the U.S. and Canada, at 185 million daily users, while declining 1 percent in Europe to 279 million daily users. Overall, average daily users increased 11 percent from the period a year earlier.
Revenue increased 42 percent to $13.2 billion in the quarter. Analysts projected $13.3 billion. The social network still holds one of the world’s most valuable sets of data on what people are interested in, and makes that audience easily available to advertisers. The company remains in a dominant position in mobile advertising alongside Alphabet Inc.’s Google.
“As we have written about extensively, the advertising industry – and digital advertising no less – has limits to growth, which we think is the primary factor constraining Facebook’s revenue opportunity,” Wieser said in a note after the earnings. “Deceleration such as management guided toward suggests that while the company is still growing at a fast clip, the days of 30%+ growth are numbered.”
Wehner gave three different reasons why the company’s revenue growth would decline: currency headwinds, greater investments in new kinds of content-sharing, like disappearing videos, and greater user control over privacy — a direct response to criticism the company has fielded.
After the General Data Protection Regulation went into effect in Europe, Facebook started asking people to check their privacy settings and make sure they wanted to share certain kinds of data. Facebook is rolling out a version of those protections to the rest of the world.If users choose to share less data with Facebook, that could hamper the company’s ad-targeting abilities, making it less attractive to marketers.
While privacy was an issue in Europe, politics played a role in North America, which is the company’s most lucrative advertising market. Facebook disrupted some business by putting in place new rules to get all political advertisers to verify their identities. The company may have halted more ad purchases than expected as it applied a broad definition of what’s considered “political.”
After the earnings report, executives worked to explain the potential of Facebook’s other properties, not just the main social network, to fuel growth. The company owns three other properties with more than 1 billion users: WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram. Together, the entire Facebook suite of products has 2.5 billion unique monthly users, the company disclosed for the first time.
Of the newer endeavors, Instagram’s business model is the most mature, and likely contributed meaningfully to revenue in the quarter, analysts have said. Zuckerberg called it an “amazing acquisition,” saying Instagram grew twice as fast as it would have by being part of Facebook, without explaining his methodology. The company doesn’t break out Instagram’s revenue.
Facebook has said it will increase spending to make investments in video content, and on new bets like artificial intelligence and virtual reality. The company is also rapidly expanding its real estate around the world to accommodate a hiring spree, which includes thousands of new workers to help combat foreign election manipulation on the site. The company said headcount was 30,275 as of June 30 — an increase of 47 percent year over year.
Before the results were announced, Facebook’s shares had closed in New York at $217.50, a record high, and had gained 23 percent this year.
The revenue guidance from the company was “unprecedented,” said Gene Munster, an analyst at Loup Ventures, in a note to investors. But Facebook, which reported sales growth averaging 50 percent the past 10 quarters, may just be lowering the bar so it can win back confidence in future quarters.
“The company has a track record of resetting revenue growth and expense expectations only to turn around and exceed those expectations the following quarter,” Munster wrote.
Trump tries to hold hands with Juncker during White House visit but gets rejected - Independent
July 27, 2018
Trump tries to hold hands with Juncker during White House visit but gets rejected
Posted by Greg Evans in news
UPVOTE
Donald Trump has a thing for holding hands, doesn't he?
He's already established a very touchy and affectionate relationship with Theresa May.
Shehab Khan
✔
@ShehabKhan
May and Trump are holding hands AGAIN. Why does she keep doing that?!?!
11:01 PM - Jul 13, 2018
Who can forget the epic handshake that he shared with French president Emmanuel Macron, last summer?
CNN
✔
@CNN
The farewell handshake between President Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron lasted about 25 seconds http://cnn.it/2uqtIWy
11:02 PM - Jul 14, 2017
He also shared a bizarre handshake with Emomali Rahmon, the president of Tajikistan.
That being said he's yet to perfect the art of holding hands with his own wife.
Haaretz.com
✔
@haaretzcom
OUCHhttp://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.790848 …
1:29 AM - May 23, 2017
Now there is a new addition to his ever growing gallery of awkward hand moments.
This time it comes courtesy of President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker.
After a joint press conference at the White House, Trump extended his hand to the Luxembourgian politician only for Juncker to seemingly refuse it.
euronews
✔
@euronews
This is the moment Jean-Claude Juncker appeared to reject Donald Trump's attempt to take him by the hand.
9:02 PM - Jul 26, 2018
89
70 people are talking about this
Twitter Ads info and privacy
Vocal Europe
✔
@thevocaleurope
MOMENT |
EU Commission president @JunckerEU refusing to hold Trump's hand.
5:22 PM - Jul 26, 2018
Ruptly
✔
@Ruptly
Did Juncker just refuse to shake Trump's hand?
8:45 PM - Jul 26, 2018
Yeah...that wasn't embarrassing for Trump in the slightest. It's like going in for a kiss on your crush only be rejected.
A swift thinking Trump tried to save face by placing his hand on the back of Juncker but the damage had already been done.
During the press conference, Trump announced that the two had agreed to a trade truce between the US and EU.
Jean-Claude Juncker
✔
@JunckerEU
I came for a deal, we made a deal. The EU continues to stand up for free and fair trade. My joint statement with @realDonaldTrump: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_STATEMENT-18-4687_en.htm …
7:09 AM - Jul 26, 2018
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
Great to be back on track with the European Union. This was a big day for free and fair trade!
11:01 AM - Jul 26, 2018
However, the hand incident was the biggest talking point of the press conference and it was soon the hottest topic on Twitter.
Mark Alexander #FBPE
@markpalexander
“I came for a deal; we made a deal,” Juncker is a boss.
Trump's powerplay hand holdy thing gets the brush off it deserveshttps://twitter.com/i/status/1022278402231824385 …
Zoya Sheftalovich
✔
@zoyashef
Check out how @JunckerEU refuses to hold @realDonaldTrump's hand. It's full Brezhnev or nothing!
h/t @florianeder
12:36 AM - Jul 27, 2018
Jon Cooper 🌊
✔
@joncoopertweets
Not all heroes wear capes. #Resist https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-juncker-hand-eu-us-trade-white-house-tariff-a8464226.html …
6:18 AM - Jul 27, 2018
Watch EU president Juncker refuse to hold Donald Trump's hand
The European Commission president studiously refused to hold Donald Trump’s hand during a diplomatic visit to Washington – in stark contrast to Theresa May. Jean-Claude Juncker and the US president...
independent.co.uk
Bill Humphrey 🌳
✔
@BillHumphreyMA
Trump is so terrified of stairs that he instinctively tried to grab for Jean-Claude Juncker's hand before going up literally one (1) step out of the Rose Garden press conference to go back inside.
8:35 AM - Jul 26, 2018
15
See Bill Humphrey 🌳's other Tweets
Twitter Ads info and privacy
Derek Cressman
@DerekCressman
Cue the Beatles:
Oh, I, tell you something, I hope you’ll understand...
Watch EU president Juncker refuse to hold Donald Trump's hand https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-juncker-hand-eu-us-trade-white-house-tariff-a8464226.html …
6:45 AM - Jul 27, 2018
Watch EU president Juncker refuse to hold Donald Trump's hand
The European Commission president studiously refused to hold Donald Trump’s hand during a diplomatic visit to Washington – in stark contrast to Theresa May. Jean-Claude Juncker and the US president...
independent.co.uk
Earlier in the day, Trump had also extended his hand to Juncker during a briefing while he praised him for being 'a very smart man and a tough man that represents his people well and the countries well.
Juncker looked equally bemused at this moment too.
231681954-topshot-us-president-donald-trump-meets-with-european-commission-president-jean-clau.jpg
Picture: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
It was a bit different even earlier during the day when the two shared a little kiss on the cheek.
View image on Twitter
View image on Twitter
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
Obviously the European Union, as represented by @JunckerEU and the United States, as represented by yours truly, love each other!
9:49 AM - Jul 26, 2018
Perhaps Juckner isn't a hands man?
Either way, we doubt that this will stop Trump continuing to use his hands in that manner, after all, they are really BIG.
HT Daily Mail
GDP growth touted as “historic” by Trump is anything but - CBS News
July 27, 2018, 5:23 PM
GDP growth touted as “historic” by Trump is anything but
President Trump on Friday touted the U.S. economy's 4.1 percent growth in the second quarter as "an economic turnaround of historic proportions." He also predicted the spurt will be sustained and even accelerate.
Yet few economists outside the administration agree with that bullish forecast. Here's a look at Mr. Trump claims, and the facts:
U.S. GDP growth hit 4.1 percent in the second quarter
Trump touts "amazing" economic growth figures
"We've accomplished an economic turnaround of historic proportions," Mr. Trump remarked Friday at the White House shortly after the Commerce Department released its GDP report.
In fact, Mr. Trump didn't inherit a fixer-upper economy.
The U.S. economy just entered its 10th year of growth, a recovery that began under President Barack Obama, who inherited the Great Recession. The data show that the falling unemployment rate and gains in home values reflect the duration of the recovery, rather than any major changes made since 2017 by the Trump administration.
While Mr. Trump praised the 4.1 percent annual growth rate in the second quarter, the economy exceeded that level four times during the Obama presidency: in 2009, 2011 and twice in 2014.
In purely numerical terms, a larger shift took place in the second quarter of 2014, when the economy went from contracting by 1 percent to growing at a rate of 5.1 percent.
But quarterly figures are volatile, and strength in one quarter can be reversed in the next. President Obama never achieved the 3 percent annual growth that President Trump hopes to see, though he came close. The economy grew 2.9 percent in 2015.
The current economic expansion, which began in June 2009, is now the second-longest on record -- but it is also the weakest. The GDP revisions the Commerce Department announced Friday didn't change that narrative. Annual growth has averaged just 2.2 percent since mid-2009 through the end of last year, the same as previously reported.
"One of the biggest wins in the report, and it is, indeed a big one, is that the trade deficit — very dear to my heart because we've been ripped off by the world — has dropped," Mr. Trump said Friday.
Mr. Trump is correct that a lower trade deficit spurred growth in the April-June quarter, but the reason for that isn't necessarily positive.
The president has been floating plans to slap import taxes on hundreds of billions of dollars of foreign goods, which has led to retaliatory tariffs by foreign governments on U.S. goods.
This threat of an escalating trade war has led many foreign companies to stockpile U.S. goods before any tariffs hit. That caused a temporary boost in U.S. exports, helping to fuel economic growth.
But Richard Moody, chief economist at Regions Financial, said the gains from rising U.S. exports in the second quarter will not be repeated.
"These numbers are very, very sustainable. It's not a one-time shot," Mr. Trump said Friday.
It's impossible to predict the future, but economists warn that the figures seen this quarter will not be easy to replicate, or even come near.
The economy faces two significant structural drags that could keep growth closer to 2 percent than 3 percent: An aging population, which means fewer people are working and more are retired, and weak productivity growth, which means that those who are working aren't increasing their output as quickly as in the past.
Both of those factors are largely beyond Mr. Trump's control.
The labor force could get a boost from higher participation—that is, if more people who are currently on the sidelines re-enter the labor force. But enticing those people back into the workforce could require a combination of higher pay, better jobs or some other factor.
GDP growth touted as “historic” by Trump is anything but
President Trump on Friday touted the U.S. economy's 4.1 percent growth in the second quarter as "an economic turnaround of historic proportions." He also predicted the spurt will be sustained and even accelerate.
Yet few economists outside the administration agree with that bullish forecast. Here's a look at Mr. Trump claims, and the facts:
U.S. GDP growth hit 4.1 percent in the second quarter
Trump touts "amazing" economic growth figures
"We've accomplished an economic turnaround of historic proportions," Mr. Trump remarked Friday at the White House shortly after the Commerce Department released its GDP report.
In fact, Mr. Trump didn't inherit a fixer-upper economy.
The U.S. economy just entered its 10th year of growth, a recovery that began under President Barack Obama, who inherited the Great Recession. The data show that the falling unemployment rate and gains in home values reflect the duration of the recovery, rather than any major changes made since 2017 by the Trump administration.
While Mr. Trump praised the 4.1 percent annual growth rate in the second quarter, the economy exceeded that level four times during the Obama presidency: in 2009, 2011 and twice in 2014.
In purely numerical terms, a larger shift took place in the second quarter of 2014, when the economy went from contracting by 1 percent to growing at a rate of 5.1 percent.
But quarterly figures are volatile, and strength in one quarter can be reversed in the next. President Obama never achieved the 3 percent annual growth that President Trump hopes to see, though he came close. The economy grew 2.9 percent in 2015.
The current economic expansion, which began in June 2009, is now the second-longest on record -- but it is also the weakest. The GDP revisions the Commerce Department announced Friday didn't change that narrative. Annual growth has averaged just 2.2 percent since mid-2009 through the end of last year, the same as previously reported.
"One of the biggest wins in the report, and it is, indeed a big one, is that the trade deficit — very dear to my heart because we've been ripped off by the world — has dropped," Mr. Trump said Friday.
Mr. Trump is correct that a lower trade deficit spurred growth in the April-June quarter, but the reason for that isn't necessarily positive.
The president has been floating plans to slap import taxes on hundreds of billions of dollars of foreign goods, which has led to retaliatory tariffs by foreign governments on U.S. goods.
This threat of an escalating trade war has led many foreign companies to stockpile U.S. goods before any tariffs hit. That caused a temporary boost in U.S. exports, helping to fuel economic growth.
But Richard Moody, chief economist at Regions Financial, said the gains from rising U.S. exports in the second quarter will not be repeated.
"These numbers are very, very sustainable. It's not a one-time shot," Mr. Trump said Friday.
It's impossible to predict the future, but economists warn that the figures seen this quarter will not be easy to replicate, or even come near.
The economy faces two significant structural drags that could keep growth closer to 2 percent than 3 percent: An aging population, which means fewer people are working and more are retired, and weak productivity growth, which means that those who are working aren't increasing their output as quickly as in the past.
Both of those factors are largely beyond Mr. Trump's control.
The labor force could get a boost from higher participation—that is, if more people who are currently on the sidelines re-enter the labor force. But enticing those people back into the workforce could require a combination of higher pay, better jobs or some other factor.
Is Australia and New Zealand's 'mateship' in trouble? - BBC News
Is Australia and New Zealand's 'mateship' in trouble?
By Trevor Marshallsea
Sydney
27 July 2018
New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern and Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull meet last year
Squabbles between Australia and New Zealand have usually been fairly lightweight affairs, the kind you'd find in many big sibling-little sibling relationships.
They've typically stemmed from the sporting field, or over who can lay claim to celebrities, or "Australia's" greatest racehorse, the New Zealand-born Phar Lap.
But recently a relationship forged on World War One battlefields, and historically described as "special", has developed a decidedly frosty edge.
How tensions have escalated
Last year, the bilateral relationship was rocked ahead of New Zealand's election when Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she would find it "very difficult to build trust" with a New Zealand Labour government.
The outburst came after Labour figures were accused of colluding with Canberra counterparts to damage Australia's conservative government by helping to drag former deputy PM Barnaby Joyce into a dual citizenship controversy.
While Ms Bishop mended ties with New Zealand Labour leader Jacinda Ardern after her election as prime minister, other controversies intensified.
In 2014, Australia toughened immigration laws on expelling expats convicted of crimes. This has led to some 1,300 people being deported to New Zealand in the past three years - the most of any nationality.
Some argue this is down to numbers, with New Zealanders the second-largest expat group here after Britons.
But an Australian parliamentary inquiry this week heard from lawyers and New Zealander lobby groups that their compatriots were disproportionately affected, with assertions made that Australia was sweeping the streets to deport minor offenders.
Image copyrightAFP
Image caption
Australia's flag (L) is a copy of New Zealand's (R), acting PM Winston Peters alleged this week
The issue took another twist recently when a 17-year-old New Zealander was held in a Melbourne adult detention facility for four months, sparking a bilateral row.
Acting New Zealand PM Winston Peters reminded Australia of its commitments to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Justice Minister Andrew Little followed by saying Australia's deportation of New Zealanders had a "venal, political strain" to it.
He added Australia "doesn't look like our best friend, our nearest neighbour".
Australia's Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton hit back by saying Mr Little should think more carefully before speaking out. He reminded there was "a lot we do for New Zealand", such as using its navy to stop boatloads of would-be immigrants reaching the country.
This week, as if it was needed, Mr Peters stirred the broiling trans-Tasman waters again by demanding Australia should change its flag, alleging it had copied New Zealand's. (While Australia's was formally adopted in 1954, five decades after New Zealand's, the Australian design was chosen first, in 1901).
'Moving apart'
All told, it's been a tumultuous few years for the "friends across the ditch" - the colloquial term for the 2,000km-wide (1,240 mile) Tasman Sea. But while some lament the deterioration of a once-special relationship, others call it a natural side-effect of fading colonial ties in the modern world.
"The relationship is changing, and it doesn't appear to just be an aberration, after which it will return to normal," Bryce Edwards, a politics lecturer from Wellington's Victoria University, told the BBC.
"The two countries are inevitably moving apart, in the same way Britain and Australia, or Britain and New Zealand, have moved apart."
How a dual citizen crisis befell Australia
Australia and New Zealand mark Anzac Day
Jacinda Ardern's rapid rise to top job
He said globalisation - especially of trade, travel and culture - meant "these state-to-state relationships are in flux all around the world".
"Like a personal intimate relationship, Australia and New Zealand are less interested in each other," he said. "We're both 'seeing other people' - striking up new trading, cultural, sporting and visa arrangements with other countries."
Dr Edwards said while relations had been strained before, neither government now had "any substantial interest in smoothing over those differences".
Less concern at 'ground level'
However Peter Chen, senior lecturer in Sydney University's department of government and international relations, is not as pessimistic.
He says modern populist politics are at play in the relationship downturn. New Zealand MPs like Mr Peters score points at home by standing up to the country's big neighbour.
And with Australia caring less about New Zealand than vice-versa - a 2016 study by the Australia-Indonesia council showed a third of Australians didn't even name New Zealand as a regional neighbour - Australian MPs had little to lose by offending New Zealand, according Dr Chen.
Anzac Day, on 25 April, is day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand
But he says the countries will always be tightly linked in many ways. New Zealand relies heavily on Australia for trade and tourism, sporting and cultural bonds remain strong, and strong cooperation also exists on matters including regional standards for goods and services.
"If you get a bike helmet, the sticker inside says "Australia-New Zealand Safety Standard". We have hundreds of such agreements, a high level of integrated governance that most people don't realise," Dr Chen told the BBC.
"Also, while Australia and New Zealand compete for influence in the region, increasingly we're being drawn together with regard to the South Pacific resisting the influence of China.
"People who say 'we're going to drift apart' don't know what they're talking about. We're too heavily integrated."
Australia's Solomons deal shuts out Huawei
Vanuatu rejects China military base report
Australia debates 'Chinese influence'
Maree Hart, an expat New Zealander who's lived on Australia's Gold Coast for 30 years, said though politicians might trade blows across the Tasman, at the personal level no change had been felt.
"There's always good-natured banter here about 'the bloody Kiwis', and all the old New Zealand jokes, but people don't talk about the political moves at the ground level," she said.
"Kiwis have had a bit of a bad wrap here. Years ago it was pretty bad, with people flying over here, going straight to the dole office, and going straight down the beach. But it's different now, with more families moving over.
"I think if it ever really came to the crunch, that mateship between Australia and New Zealand would always be there."
By Trevor Marshallsea
Sydney
27 July 2018
New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern and Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull meet last year
Squabbles between Australia and New Zealand have usually been fairly lightweight affairs, the kind you'd find in many big sibling-little sibling relationships.
They've typically stemmed from the sporting field, or over who can lay claim to celebrities, or "Australia's" greatest racehorse, the New Zealand-born Phar Lap.
But recently a relationship forged on World War One battlefields, and historically described as "special", has developed a decidedly frosty edge.
How tensions have escalated
Last year, the bilateral relationship was rocked ahead of New Zealand's election when Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she would find it "very difficult to build trust" with a New Zealand Labour government.
The outburst came after Labour figures were accused of colluding with Canberra counterparts to damage Australia's conservative government by helping to drag former deputy PM Barnaby Joyce into a dual citizenship controversy.
While Ms Bishop mended ties with New Zealand Labour leader Jacinda Ardern after her election as prime minister, other controversies intensified.
In 2014, Australia toughened immigration laws on expelling expats convicted of crimes. This has led to some 1,300 people being deported to New Zealand in the past three years - the most of any nationality.
Some argue this is down to numbers, with New Zealanders the second-largest expat group here after Britons.
But an Australian parliamentary inquiry this week heard from lawyers and New Zealander lobby groups that their compatriots were disproportionately affected, with assertions made that Australia was sweeping the streets to deport minor offenders.
Image copyrightAFP
Image caption
Australia's flag (L) is a copy of New Zealand's (R), acting PM Winston Peters alleged this week
The issue took another twist recently when a 17-year-old New Zealander was held in a Melbourne adult detention facility for four months, sparking a bilateral row.
Acting New Zealand PM Winston Peters reminded Australia of its commitments to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Justice Minister Andrew Little followed by saying Australia's deportation of New Zealanders had a "venal, political strain" to it.
He added Australia "doesn't look like our best friend, our nearest neighbour".
Australia's Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton hit back by saying Mr Little should think more carefully before speaking out. He reminded there was "a lot we do for New Zealand", such as using its navy to stop boatloads of would-be immigrants reaching the country.
This week, as if it was needed, Mr Peters stirred the broiling trans-Tasman waters again by demanding Australia should change its flag, alleging it had copied New Zealand's. (While Australia's was formally adopted in 1954, five decades after New Zealand's, the Australian design was chosen first, in 1901).
'Moving apart'
All told, it's been a tumultuous few years for the "friends across the ditch" - the colloquial term for the 2,000km-wide (1,240 mile) Tasman Sea. But while some lament the deterioration of a once-special relationship, others call it a natural side-effect of fading colonial ties in the modern world.
"The relationship is changing, and it doesn't appear to just be an aberration, after which it will return to normal," Bryce Edwards, a politics lecturer from Wellington's Victoria University, told the BBC.
"The two countries are inevitably moving apart, in the same way Britain and Australia, or Britain and New Zealand, have moved apart."
How a dual citizen crisis befell Australia
Australia and New Zealand mark Anzac Day
Jacinda Ardern's rapid rise to top job
He said globalisation - especially of trade, travel and culture - meant "these state-to-state relationships are in flux all around the world".
"Like a personal intimate relationship, Australia and New Zealand are less interested in each other," he said. "We're both 'seeing other people' - striking up new trading, cultural, sporting and visa arrangements with other countries."
Dr Edwards said while relations had been strained before, neither government now had "any substantial interest in smoothing over those differences".
Less concern at 'ground level'
However Peter Chen, senior lecturer in Sydney University's department of government and international relations, is not as pessimistic.
He says modern populist politics are at play in the relationship downturn. New Zealand MPs like Mr Peters score points at home by standing up to the country's big neighbour.
And with Australia caring less about New Zealand than vice-versa - a 2016 study by the Australia-Indonesia council showed a third of Australians didn't even name New Zealand as a regional neighbour - Australian MPs had little to lose by offending New Zealand, according Dr Chen.
Anzac Day, on 25 April, is day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand
But he says the countries will always be tightly linked in many ways. New Zealand relies heavily on Australia for trade and tourism, sporting and cultural bonds remain strong, and strong cooperation also exists on matters including regional standards for goods and services.
"If you get a bike helmet, the sticker inside says "Australia-New Zealand Safety Standard". We have hundreds of such agreements, a high level of integrated governance that most people don't realise," Dr Chen told the BBC.
"Also, while Australia and New Zealand compete for influence in the region, increasingly we're being drawn together with regard to the South Pacific resisting the influence of China.
"People who say 'we're going to drift apart' don't know what they're talking about. We're too heavily integrated."
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Maree Hart, an expat New Zealander who's lived on Australia's Gold Coast for 30 years, said though politicians might trade blows across the Tasman, at the personal level no change had been felt.
"There's always good-natured banter here about 'the bloody Kiwis', and all the old New Zealand jokes, but people don't talk about the political moves at the ground level," she said.
"Kiwis have had a bit of a bad wrap here. Years ago it was pretty bad, with people flying over here, going straight to the dole office, and going straight down the beach. But it's different now, with more families moving over.
"I think if it ever really came to the crunch, that mateship between Australia and New Zealand would always be there."
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