Gladiator star Russell Crowe has dived into the online political fighting pit by suggesting New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern lead an unorthodox union with its neighbors Australia 4,000 kilometers away.

The Oscar winning actor posted the unusual suggestion to his 2.7 million followers on Twitter, acknowledging such a merger would probably prove “controversial” but also “practical”.

Look... just accept it... she’s awesome. Is it time to make Australia and New Zealand into one country with @jacindaardern as PM ? Not trying to be controversial ... just practical. https://t.co/YOdIyhL3wR — Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) September 29, 2018

Writing about New Zealand’s PM, Crowe, the star of Cinderella Man and Roman epic Gladiator praised Ardern, who recently made her debut speech to the United Nations.

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“Look… just accept it… she’s awesome,” said Crowe, who was born in Wellington, New Zealand, but has lived most of his life in Australia. “Is it time to make Australia and New Zealand into one country with Jacinda Ardern as PM? Not trying to be controversial… just practical.”

Crowe’s half-joke appears to have gone down a treat with many commenters online - with some people even suggested new names for the unified nation while others enjoyed the idea of an epic rugby team.

Would be a great way to end oil exploration in Australia nice and quickly! Wasoyareckon @GreenpeaceAP#savethebight#MakeOilHistory — Greenpeace NZ (@GreenpeaceNZ) October 1, 2018

Well said mate! She’s no dill! She makes a lot of our Pollies look like a conga line of cumquats. Very Impressed! — Dean Manton (@DeanDinohq) September 29, 2018

We’d have a good rugby team — footyjumpers.com (@footyjumpers) September 29, 2018

Count me in (as a proud citizen of the province of West New Zealand formerly called Australia) — Dale (@daleamtsberg) September 29, 2018

Russell ...like all things New Zealand 🇳🇿 I’ve already claimed @jacindaardern as our own. She is now the Prime Minister of Australia. — Marco Bogaers (@MarcoBogaers) September 30, 2018

On the other hand, the two nations already have an intense rivalry and some Kiwis slapped down the idea, stating they are keen to hang on to Ardern and not see another “treasure” lost to its neighbors.

Sorry, she's ours and we ain't sharing her. However, understanding how temperamental Aussie politics are, we'd like to offer you Simon Bridges. Feel free to keep him as long as you need but do understand this is a no returns transaction. — Miss BetseyTrotwood (@Suzyiam) October 1, 2018

Obviously Aussies a desperate because no one is good enough over there for them. But sorry we are not sharing😝 — 🌈artemis_alcyone🏳️‍🌈 (@shazza_bag) October 1, 2018

Aussies want to claim our PM - they’ve stolen pavlovas, Phar Lap & Split Enz; in fact everything other than their small time criminals (which they send back).... why not pinch another cultural asset? 😀 https://t.co/BR8CYSOsht — DaveMac (@davemacpherson7) October 1, 2018

Not sure Russel is qualified to give political relationship advice. — Democracymum (@democracymum) October 1, 2018

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