Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern keeps 'watchful eye' on fireworks situation

The Prime Minister is not a fan of fireworks and wants to keep a "watchful eye" on the situation to see if they're costing the country too much.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told the AM Show this morning that as a kid she loved them but as an adult "it's a pain in the butt".

"If I was a kid looking at me now, I'd think 'what an old fuddy-duddy - you're ruining all the fun'. But as I lay in bed last night listening to the 'pop pop pop' around me, thinking about all the animals, the Fire Service.

"I've noticed a lot of fireworks pop-up sales happening around Auckland - just people pulled up on the side of the road with a big rented van, just selling stockpiles of fireworks out the back of the truck.

"I want to have a look at what kind of callout rate we've been having, how many kids ended up in hospital. Yes, I think public displays are fantastic - but I do think we need to keep a watchful eye on whether or not it's costing us too much," she told the show.

Ardern said she didn't let off any fireworks herself and her cat Paddles wasn't worried.

Meanwhile, this morning Ardern told Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB that Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters' relationship with Russia had been "totally overplayed".

The Herald revealed on Saturday that Peters had plans to reopen trade negotiations with Russia.

"A huge priority for New Zealand is the EU and that doesn't diminish that focus at all. His focus is simply on opening up new trade opportunities and new trade routes in New Zealand."

At a briefing on Tuesday in Wellington, European Union ambassador Bernard Savage said any moves made towards thawing relations with Russia would be viewed in a "very negative" light.

The policy, written into the Labour-New Zealand First coalition agreement at the urging of the smaller party, risks harming relations with one of our largest trading partners in order to enhance those with one of our smallest.

However, resolving the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal was the Government's current focus over free trade agreements with other countries, Ardern said.

The Government wants to renegotiate the Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) clauses in the TPP trade deal. Those provisions allow foreign investors to take action against a TPP country if they believe it has breached its investment rules.

"We believe we've inherited a poorly negotiated deal... but we're doing our best. It's quite late in the piece though so it will be tough.

"We've always believed we can try our best to find a balance to pressure the interests of our exporters - the deal for exporters, particularly into Japan is significant - but at the same time we wanted to maintain the position of trying to pursue New Zealand's best interests."

Ardern also clarified that any refugees taken from Australia's Manus Island would be classified as refugees by the United Nations and would be in line with UN principles.

Yesterday, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said New Zealand's offer to take Manus Island refugees won't be taken up "at this time" - and says New Zealand has benefited from Australia's tough border protection policy.

Labour will double the refugee quota to 1500 in stages. Ardern said they would move to 1000 over the next year.