McCully to welcome Australian counterpart

Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully will host his Australian counterpart, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, in Auckland tomorrow for their first six-monthly Australia-New Zealand Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.

Ms Bishop’s visit is the first by a minister from the newly-elected Coalition government.

“This meeting is an excellent opportunity to build on the uniquely close relationship between our two countries,” Mr McCully says.

“New Zealand and Australia work well together on a broad range of regional and international issues, including Pacific development, trade liberalisation and the environment.”

Mr McCully and Ms Bishop will discuss bilateral and Pacific relations, as well as the crisis in Syria and the United Nations Security Council.

To note: media are invited to attend a stand-up following the ministers’ meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, level 6, 139 Quay Street, Auckland at 5.10pm on Wednesday October 2.