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It will be frightening and disheartening for the people of Christchurch and Canterbury to be experiencing even more earthquakes of such a magnitude, particularly this close to the holiday season, says Prime Minister John Key.

His comments follow two new aftershocks this afternoon, one a magnitude 5.8 at 1.58pm, and a second strong earthquake at 3.19pm.

“My heart goes out to the people of Christchurch and Canterbury at this time,” says Mr Key.

Prime Minister John Key has confirmed that the NZSAS deployment to Afghanistan will end as scheduled in March next year – a decision which has been foreshadowed for some time.

“The SAS has achieved the job they were sent to do with Kabul’s Crisis Response Unit (CRU), and they have done that job to the very highest of standards,” says Mr Key.

Delivered by His Excellency Lieutenant General The Right Honourable Sir Jerry Mateparae, GNZM, QSO, Governor-General of New Zealand, on the occasion of the State Opening of Parliament, Wednesday 21 December 2011

Honourable Members of the House of Representatives. It is my privilege to exercise the prerogative of Her Majesty the Queen and open the 50th Parliament.

E nga Mema o te Whare Paremata o Aotearoa, tenei aku mihi mahana ki a koutou, tena koutou katoa.

Prime Minister John Key will visit Australia from 27 to 29 January 2012 for the annual Australia-New Zealand Leaders’ Meeting and a joint meeting of senior Cabinet Ministers.

This will be the second time the Australian and New Zealand Prime Ministers have convened a joint meeting of senior Cabinet Ministers – the first was in 2009.

Mr Key will be accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Bill English and six other Ministers - Steven Joyce, Judith Collins, Tony Ryall, Hekia Parata, Jonathan Coleman and Craig Foss.

Prime Minister John Key has appointed Parliamentary Private Secretaries to assist the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Ethnic Affairs.

John Hayes will be Parliamentary Private Secretary to Murray McCully for Foreign Affairs and Melissa Lee will be Parliamentary Private Secretary to Judith Collins on Ethnic Affairs.

Parliamentary Private Secretaries (PPS) are MPs appointed to assist Ministers but, unlike Under-Secretaries, are not part of the Executive. They receive no extra remuneration.

Prime Minister John Key has announced the election of National’s new senior whip and junior whip following the National Party Caucus this morning.

Mr Key says the new senior whip will be List MP Michael Woodhouse, who is from Dunedin.

He will replace Chris Tremain, who is now a Minister outside Cabinet.

The junior whip will be MP for Taupo, Louise Upston.

She replaces Jo Goodhew, who is also now a Minister outside Cabinet.

The fourth Indicators and Progress report for the Government’s Tackling Methamphetamine Action Plan shows government agencies’ work is continuing to contain the growth of methamphetamine (‘P’) supply networks, Prime Minister John Key announced today.

“This initiative has been in place for two-and-a-half years, and we can see that efforts to crack down on those who are importing, manufacturing and selling P and its precursors are working,” says Mr Key.

Prime Minister John Key has welcomed the Norwegian Government’s decision to work with the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust on the Cape Adare preservation project.

Following a bilateral meeting with Mr Key today, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has announced his Government will provide NZD$900,000 to preserve the two huts of Norwegian explorer Carsten Borchgrevink on Cape Adare in the Ross Dependency.

Prime Minister John Key has welcomed the news of a planned visit to New Zealand by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall next year.

“I am pleased New Zealand will be able host the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall as part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations,” says Mr Key.

“Prince Charles, heir to the throne, will be visiting New Zealand on the Queen’s behalf.”