Stephen Jacobi

Delighted to be joining @HelenClarkFound as one of three new Honorary Senior Fellows: helenclark.foundation/news/blog/anno… Grateful to @HelenClarkNZ, the Foundation Board and staff team for this opportunity!

@JakeLandauTO Good question but did you check out the flag of Ontario?

As a Canadian it's funny that Australia and New Zealand still haven't managed to come up with original flags for themselves, how are you still stuck on a British Ensign in the year 2026?

I’m pleased this Govt is willing to help those who need help to meet high fuel prices but isn’t it a bit odd that a family earning $140k can qualify while beneficiaries cannot? Whether or not they drive to work they may drive kids to school and they buy goods which cost more!

@carlworker Impeccable timing - just when we are going to need to rely on the Chinese market they poke the dragon …

'Colonial-style arrogance': China unhappy with NZ-Australia statement. rnz.co.nz/news/world/590…

@carlworker Sad to see USTR used in this way.

You are very patient and diplomatic. No one thinks the US is proceeding on the basis of logic, respect for facts, or good faith. The whole thing is a kangaroo court designed to try and satisfy Big Don. To such is the once impressive US now reduced. It is a great loss for us all.

@henrycooke What a guy … he should run for PM (hey …)

Winston Peters says he agrees with Donald Trump that the war will be over soon. "It won't be very long before it'll be over. It won't be months, for example," Peters told me. He says he believes the end of the war is within US control and that he thinks its war aims are clear.

@petercarrell Can’t see it myself and who’d want to be part of that anyway! Humouring them just encourages them.

@StephenJacobi We pay attention because although they include sectarian tendencies, they are not a dissident sect of Anglicanism but a movement whose pretensions to control of the Communion might come to pass, especially if Global South becomes more Gafcon than Canterbury-aligned!

It might be fair to say that within both the Anglican Communion and Gafcon there are emerging proposals for internal re-organization which are interesting as far as they go, but likely not anything yet "final" ... anglicandownunder.blogspot.com/2026/03/whithe…

@carlworker Bizarre - especially the last few lines !!

Pathetic. nzherald.co.nz/nz/winston-pet…

@carlworker *take

@carlworker I think its more like we continue to rake each other for granted (the last PM to visit may have been Jenny Shipley when I was in Ottawa) and we aren’t seen as that important in Canadian eyes.

No New Zealand visit, it would appear?

@petercarrell No doubt he”ll find another way adding to the considerable uncertainty that already exists !

@StephenJacobi This means .. for NZ?

@Tasmanviews @carlworker He insults everyone on a most favoured nation basis !

@carlworker Of course he is the very model of a reasonable coalition partner and stable leader!

Something has gone to his head. Turning into a reckless crank.

@michaelwoodnz I agree with you completely but Labour too needs to be careful in its messaging about the (modest) work and student aspects of the FTA.

NZ’s Indian community is a part of our social fabric not an external target to be whacked for cheap votes (2/2) #nzpol #nz #aotearoa #politics #newzealand

With unemployment rising, health services struggling, and young people fleeing NZ we should see this most recent attack on our Indian community for what it is - the ageless, wretched use of blame and distraction by a cynical populist. (1/2) nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/nz…

@LMeredithEU Thanks Lawrence.

“Is the EU New Zealand’s next best mate?” — I certainly think so. 🇪🇺🤝🇳🇿 Many thanks to Stephen Jacobi for his latest Newsroom article. It captures well the depth and momentum of the EU–NZ relationship. Watch this space. 🔗 newsroom.co.nz/2026/01/30/is-… #StrongerTogether #EUNZTrade

@FranOSullivan @carlworker Honestly I think a lot of this new bloc thing is spin mostly for Canadian domestic consumption. Quiet progress has been made to expand co-operation with NZ with others very much in the wheelhouse.

@carlworker NZ Trade Minister Todd McClay joined Aust Min Don Farrell and Maroš Šefčovič - EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security on this very subject in Oz last year. Carney has upped the ante to see if a new block can be formed. But NZ definitely a pathfinder.

“In this context, the (EU) President discussed the potential for closer cooperation between the European Union and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). This follows her initial conversation on the topic last week with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon of New Zealand.”

@carlworker @FranOSullivan Oh I don’t know. We may lack heft but we have the ideas!

@FranOSullivan I wouldn’t overdo our originality on this. Unlikely to have been just our idea. And it takes someone with more heft than we have to get something like this moving. The days of pioneering originality by NZ on trade architecture are long gone.

“Ottawa is “championing efforts to build a bridge between the Trans-Pacific Partnership [CPTPP] and the European Union, which would create a new trading bloc of 1.5 billion people,” Carney told world leaders and the global business elite in Davos. The middle powers are taking action. The EU and CPTPP are starting talks this year to strike an agreement to intertwine the supply chains of members like Canada, Singapore, Mexico, Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Australia with Europe. It would bring nearly 40 nations on opposite sides of the globe closer together with the aim of reaching a deal on so-called rules of origin.”

This is brilliant !

@EricCrampton @jkenney I hate to rain on a good idea. There are lots of good reasons to expand co-operation between EU and CPTPP but the idea of a full-blown trade agreement is a little premature. And all the participants esp Canada will have to learn to walk the talk !

@jkenney Canada's behaviour under CPTPP with respect to its dairy access obligations is a bit like the Canadian Men's curling team's play. It'll take a bit of work for Canada to be the credible anchor on this.

This👇is great, but before getting too excited, recall that this is essentially what the Harper government sought to do for Canada through the Canada-Europe Trade Agreement, the Trans Pacific Partnership, plus a bunch of bilateral FTAs. The idea was to make Canada a global hub for free trade to reduce our dependance on the US market. Under the Harper government, Canada went from having largely tariff free access to 6 countries, to over 45 countries. But a decade after Harper's massive FTA expansion, Canada was even *more* dependant on the US export market. Why? because most of what the world wants and needs from Canada is commodities. Oil, gas, minerals, potash, grains, oilseeds, livestock, lumber, etc.. Stuff that is bulky, and requires massive infrastructure to move: pipelines, LNG liquefaction plants, expanded rail, bigger ports, etc.. Free trade access to foreign markets is great, but it only matters for Canada IF WE CAN ACTUALLY SHIP THOSE COMMODITIES quickly and efficiently. So yes, godspeed to the Carney government if it can help cement alternative global zones for freer trade. But it won't matter materially to Canada unless and until we have radical deregulation to build big things again, like pipelines and ports, at the speed of business. On that front, lot's of great talk from Ottawa. Now we desperately need bold, concrete action!

Who knew that dog-whistling, race-bating and conspiracy theory-peddling could be a vote winner?