Former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has joked Russell Crowe is more Australian than Kiwi as part of a discussion on what New Zealand culture should be showcased in the US.
Ardern made the comment on Ted Lasso star Brendan Hunt's Women's World Cup podcast 'After the Whistle with Brendan Hunt and Rebecca Lowe'.
Hunt, who played Coach Beard in the award-winning comedy, had asked if there was "an underheralded slice of Kiwi culture that we don't know about in the US", before rattling off a list of Kiwi icons that included Taika Waititi, Lorde, The Finn Brothers amongst others.
"I did notice you said the Finn brothers and not Crowded House," Ardern jumped in before asking: "Is that because you think they belong to Australia?"
Hunt quickly backtracked, saying he was "just trying to honour their full oeuvre".
"Good knowledge there - this is one of the funny rivalries with Australia, they're known for claiming things we consider to be Kiwi - Crowded House is one of them," Ardern replied.
"When I was researching that question, I was surprised to find Russell Crowe is Kiwi," Hunt said.
"There's often a hilarious debate over whether we trade that one in order to claim back Crowded House," Ardern laughed, risking reigniting trans-Tasman rivalries.
Hunt is in New Zealand and Australia as part of his podcast with Apple, and was spotted last week at the Auckland FIFA Fan Zone.
He also asked Ardern whether she would be attending the semi-final on Tuesday night between Spain and Sweden at Eden Park - to which Ardern revealed it would be down to whether she could get a babysitter for Neve.
