Foreign Minister Winston Peters in his Beehive office. Photo / supplied
Foreign Minister Winston Peters in his Beehive office. Photo / supplied
Foreign Minister Winston Peters extended some personal hospitality to his counterpart, Marise Payne, hosting her at his St Mary's Bay home in Auckland for dinner last night.
He extended the same hospitality to her predecessor, Julie Bishop, on her visit to Auckland last year.
Peters and Payne will hold talkson Waiheke Island today before heading back to Auckland for a press conference.
In the past week Payne, the former Defence Minister, has visited Washington, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu where the Pacific Islands Forum will be held later this year.
Tensions between China and United States, co-operation in the Pacific, and intelligence issues are likely to be discussed.
Peters and Payne have met before, including at the Pacific Islands Forum in Nauru, at the Melbourne Cup in November, and at Apec in Papua New Guinea, where tensions involving China were apparent.
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison had just announced a $2 billion infrastructure fund for the Pacific to counter China influence.
And Australia and the US announced plans to build a naval base on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea, which had previously been in discussion with China about the project.
Australia's High Commissioner to Wellington, Ewen McDonald, has been appointed to run the fund although he has not yet left his post.
It will be the first big bilateral visit for Chris Seed, the new head of Foreign Affairs and Trade and formerly New Zealand's High Commissioner in Canberra.
New High Commissioner Annette King is not back for the visit but may be when Morrison holds formal talks with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern later this month.
Bishop resigned as Foreign Minister in August after getting only 11 votes in a Liberal leadership contest, despite being the public's preferred candidate. She recommended Payne get the Foreign Minister's job.
Bishop has been in New Zealand on a private visit this week to address the National Party and caught up for lunch with former counterpart Murray McCully.
Ardern did not attend the dinner at Peters' place. She did so last year but that was establish relations with Bishop and she has already met Payne several times including at the Pacific Islands Forum in Nauru and at the United Nations in September.
