Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has awkwardly and somewhat reluctantly voiced his support for the Australian women's football team, following New Zealand's elimination from the FIFA World Cup on Sunday.
New Zealand's Football Ferns are out of the competition after a nil-all draw with Switzerland in their final Group A game in Dunedin.
Australia's Matildas remain in it, having qualified for the knockout round, which precedes the quarter-finals.
Today, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins was asked - by an Australian journalist - if now New Zealand had been eliminated from the tournament if it was time to support Australia.
The Prime Minister said he was "obviously very supportive of the trans-Tasman relationship".
"But I just think Kiwis should continue to pay an interest in the tournament. It's a great thing for New Zealand and Australia to be co-hosting. It's good to see that, even though our Kiwi team hasn't made it any further in the tournament that there's still a great degree of enthusiasm and support for the games that are still going."
Asked by the same journalist why it was so hard for New Zealand to support Australia, Hipkin hesitated, laughing, before another journalist asked if he would say "go the Matildas" - the nickname of the Australian women's football team.
"Go the Matildas," he said, with some apparent discomfort.
"There's something in it, isn't there? About Kiwis just backing an Australian team, but of course we wish our Aussie mates the best.
"I'm going to get text messages from Albo [Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese] about that, probably, right?"
Hipkins added the adage of supporting New Zealand and anyone playing Australia seemed to be "the long-standing Kiwi mantra".
Asked if he would prefer England win than Australia, he said he "wouldn't go that far".
The Leader of the Opposition, National leader Christopher Luxon, said "I think we back anyone other than Australia".
"What a fantastic team it has been - the Football Ferns - and I think they have inspired so many young people in New Zealand to pick up the sport and I think they've carried themselves with just great determination. They've performed so well."
Luxon said he had a good working relationship with Albanese "but when it comes to sport, we back anyone other than Australia".
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