Australia vs New Zealand: Our five lowest points

Relations with Australia have hit a new low point, with Aussie politicians threatening us after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's spoke out over Manus Island.

However it's just the latest in a sometimes stormy bond with our closest neighbour.

The Project co-presenter Jesse Mulligan says for the past few years, Australia has "already been treating us basically like dirt."

"Despite longstanding agreements which are supposed to give us special rights, New Zealanders seeking a better life in Australia have not been made to feel welcome," he argued.

"Forget the trans-Tasman friendship in 2017 - Australia is basically a bully."

And a Newshub-Reid Research poll has found the majority of Kiwis want the Government to strike back next time Australia tries to take away rights of New Zealanders living across the ditch.

Here's Newshub's roundup of lowest points between our countries over the years.

Ardern vs Australia on Manus Island

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern isn't backing down on Manus Island - even if it hurts relations with Australia.

Ms Ardern has blasted Australia's handling of the refugee crisis as unacceptable, and says she'll be an "irritant" to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

She's offered $3 million of taxpayer money to help the refugees there and offered to resettle 150 of them in New Zealand.

National leader Bill English says Ms Ardern "knows full well the Australians won't take up that offer", and told The AM Show she should be "more respectful" of their issues.

"I think she'd be a bit more respectful of the fact they have a tricky problem with border policy and boat people," he said on Tuesday morning.

"I don't think it will be helping the relationship when the Australians know that this is becoming more political for the New Zealand Prime Minister, rather than a real solution."

Ms Ardern has irked Australia - with their government warning of diplomatic consequences if she continues with her approach.

When asked whether the New Zealand Government could bypass Australia and extend the resettlement offer directly to Papua New Guinea, Australia's Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said a decision to do that could have consequences for New Zealand's relationship with Australia.

"Any sovereign state can enter into bilateral arrangements," Mr Dutton said.

"They would have to think about other equities within the respective relationships. They would have to think about their relationship with Australia and what impact it would have. They'd have to think that through, and we'd have to think that through."

Chris Hipkins gets Aussie MPs kicked out of Parliament

Labour MP Chris Hipkins caused a trans-Tasman spat after his Parliamentary questions led to several Australian politicians being ruled ineligible for election to parliament.

After speaking to an acquaintance in the Australian Labor Party (ALP), Mr Hipkins put two Parliamentary questions to Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne about the citizenship of children born in Australia to a New Zealand father.

Australian parliamentary law prohibits MPs from holding dual citizenship.

Australian Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and four other Australian MPs were disqualified as a result.

In the aftermath, Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said it would be "very difficult to build trust" with Labour.

"I would find it very difficult to build trust with members of a political party that had been used by the Australian Labor Party to seek to undermine the Australian government," she said.

Labour accepts the questions should never have been asked and insists Mr Hipkins didn't realise the ramifications.

Australia detains and deports New Zealand-born criminals

Hundreds of Kiwis have been detained and deported from Australia since a law change in 2014 allowed foreign visas to be cancelled at the discretion of Australian officials.

Under those rules, any non-citizen who has been sentenced to 12 months or more in prison, or fails a good character test, can have their visa revoked.

Because of the special category visa most New Zealanders enter Australia under, they're not eligible to apply for residency.

2016 figures showed New Zealanders were the biggest group by nationality in Australian detention centres.

They were forced to live in shocking conditions - with allegations of self-harm and people drinking washing powder or shampoo to try and kill themselves.

"People burning themselves, hanging themselves, getting up on the roof I just hate that place," says Irene Fitzgerald, the mother of a detainee. "It's a place for dogs."

"We get treated pretty much like animals here," says detainee Henimoana Ranui. "We get served food in like buckets that you would feed cows or pigs."

Australia's long-running apple ban

The 90-year fight to export Kiwi apples to Australia was a giant running sore in our economic relationship.

Australia imposed the restrictions in 1921 to protect local apple trees from fireblight, a pest that also affects pear trees and rose bushes.

New Zealand had been pushing for access to the Australian market since 1986, and after "exhaustive efforts" took the dispute to the WTO.

New Zealand finally won in 2010, with the WTO saying all 16 of Australia's quarantine measures were inconsistent with its legal obligations.

"The Appellate Body has confirmed that Australia's objections to New Zealand apple imports are simply not backed by the science," former Trade Minister Tim Grower said.

The infamous underarm bowling incident

One of the most infamous moments in our sporting rivalry took place in 1981 when Australia cricket captain Greg Chappell instructed his brother Trevor to bowl the last ball of a one-day match underarm when New Zealand needed a six to tie the scores.

It sparked uproar with Australia booed off the field and the New Zealand batsmen walking off in disgust.

The incident still rankles among New Zealanders. Underarm bowling was not illegal at the time but was seen as contrary to the spirit of the game and subsequently banned.

Newshub.