McCully A Keynote Speaker At Washington's Leadership Forum

Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully was the Keynote Speaker at the Leadership Forum of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC. He comes from a very successful meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. A return visit to the White House by Prime Minister Key is expected very shortly.

The Foreign Minister was in friendly territory, speaking to a room full of diplomats, reporters, business people, and other friends of New Zealand. His topic was "New Zealand and the United States - Pacific Partners."

He began by advising, "if you have to have an earthquake, make certain you have a delegation of American business people with you!"

Many of the strongest supporters have bonded together, after surviving the major Christchurch earthquakes together. He talked about the deep friendship between the American and NZ people, and said it never waivered during the tense disputes over nuclear issues.

When "Scoop" asked him about intelligence sharing with the US, he said he is very pleased with the level of cooperation. Then he joked about collecting cufflinks from various government agencies. We were advised to speak into his cufflinks in the future!

The Foreign Minister said there were positive statements reflecting more trade cooperation in the future. He did say "the US Tuna Treaty hangs in the balance." He expressed concern about the possibility of spreading military dictatorships on several of the smaller island nations. And he said all the economies are being "hammered" by the high cost of deisel and petroleum.

Diplomats were pleased with his visit, and said it reflects his vision that this could be "the Asian Pacific Century."

Connie Lawn, Washington D.C.

© Scoop Media