By AUDREY YOUNG
Green MP Sue Kedgley caught up yesterday with her old flame and friend, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
The pair, who worked together at the United Nations 25 years ago and dated briefly, had a chance meeting in a Beehive foyer as she was returning to her office to
drop off select committee papers.
And after the state lunch in his honour, Sue Kedgley and her husband, Denis Foot, went back to Mr Annan's hotel suite at his invitation and spent an hour with him and his Swedish wife, Nane.
Sue Kedgley said Mrs Annan, an artist, had visited Te Papa in the morning and was impressed with the art and the marae.
"She thought it was tremendous.
"We just caught up on what they were at, and their children and ours."
They had kept in touch over the years and she last saw Mr Annan in New York 18 months ago.
"The thing about Kofi is that he is so utterly devoid of pretence or artifice.
"He is no different to what he was 25 years ago."
Mr Annan told the state lunch he was impressed by New Zealand and felt "soothed by the tranquillity of the place." But he understood that did not prevail all the time.
"You are, I gather, no strangers to a bit of fighting spirit.
"As defending champions of the America's Cup, you are keeping the entire nation of Italy awake and on tenterhooks throughout the night."
He paid tribute to New Zealand as "one of the world's champions in the culture of peace."
And he said that with two consecutive women Prime Ministers and the first country to give women the right to vote, "New Zealand's example and leadership is especially important for women everywhere."
