Anthony Albanese found himself in an awkward diplomatic moment after attempting a hongi, the traditional Māori greeting of pressing noses, with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in Queenstown.

The Australian leader had just successfully exchanged hongi with members of the local iwi, but when he moved to greet Luxon in the same way, the Kiwi PM instead reached out for a standard handshake.

The moment resulted in mixed responses online.  

‘Chris Luxon is clutching Albanese like a small child clutches its mother,’ one person joked.

‘Poor Albanese had no choice. Once Luxon zooms in with his arms outstretched, you’re done for,’ another said. 

Some even linked the moment to a recent, highly publicised incident in which Luxon was loudly booed at an ANZ Netball Premiership match.

‘Luxon finds an Aussie tourist who wasn’t at the netball booing him,’ someone said 

That earlier episode, captured on official broadcast footage, showed sections of the crowd jeering as the Prime Minister walked onto the court to present awards.

Albanese ended up having to awkwardly hug Luxon, after attempting hongi

While many social media users mocked the hug, some New Zealanders sided with the Australian leader.

‘This is so embarrassing,’ one wrote.

‘Could someone from the [New Zealand National Party] have a word with Christopher Luxon? Poor Anthony Albanese didn’t deserve this.’

‘Albanese had no choice, he was forced into the Luxon Lovefest,’ someone else said. 

The two leaders were in Queenstown for the annual Australia, New Zealand Leaders’ Meeting, where they reaffirmed their shared stance on recognising Palestinian statehood, but stopped short of setting a timeline.

Both stressed their countries would make decisions ‘independent’ of each other.

‘We make our own assessments in our own economic and security interests,’ Luxon said.

‘Australia has exactly the same position,’ Albanese agreed. ‘As a sovereign nation, we make our decisions.’

Albanese also outlined Australia’s position on the Gaza crisis.

Luxon (left) and Albanese (right) met for bilateral talks in Queenstown this weekend

‘Australians want to see a ceasefire,’ he said. 

‘They want to see the killing stop. They want to see hostages released. They want to see peace in the region. They don’t want conflict brought to Australia either.’

Albanese brushed off calls to impose sanctions on Israel for blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, calling the demands a ‘slogan’.

Speaking in the historic mining settlement of Arrowtown on New Zealand’s South Island, the prime minister also repeated his government’s call for Israel to abandon its plan to occupy the entirety of the Gaza Strip.

‘We called for an immediate ceasefire,’ he told reporters on Sunday morning following a meeting with Kiwi counterpart Chris Luxon.

‘We called for the release of hostages and we called for the unimpeded entry of aid into Gaza.

‘We have a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding there. And the idea that it can just be continued is completely unacceptable.’

But the prime minister refused to answer a question about whether Australia would impose further sanctions on Israel as demanded by the Greens and other pro-Palestinian campaigners.

‘What we need to do here is to have very clear statements and actions by the Australian government that make a difference, rather than respond to a slogan on a protest,’ Mr Albanese said.

Australia previously imposed sanctions on Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, two far-right Israeli ministers in Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, who have been accused of inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

It comes as France, the United Kingdom and Canada announced plans to formally recognise a Palestinian state at a United Nations summit next month.

The debate is unfolding as the United States, Israel’s closest ally, pursues trade negotiations that could see tariffs introduced, including a proposed 15 per cent duty on New Zealand goods.