LUNCHEON IN HONOUR OF HON JOHN HOWARD, MP

BEEHIVE, WELLINGTON

Prime Minister John Howard, Cardinal Williams, Ministers, Excellencies, Leader of the Opposition, MPs, invited guests, ladies and gentlemen.

We are here today to honour the Prime Minister of Australia, here in New Zealand on his first visit in that capacity.

Prime Minister, we welcome you as a leader of a nation that is a great friend of New Zealand. So close are the ties that bind us, that we almost welcome you as one of our own.

Our countries confront a future that our forebears would hardly recognise.

You and I, John, represent the generation that has witnessed and played our part in an era of absolute change.

We grew up in nations that believed the way to economic security was to barricade ourselves behind high walls of protection.

We grew up in a world that looked to Northern Hemisphere blocs of power to provide protection, security and markets.

We cut our political teeth in systems inherited from the past which many thought would serve our countries forever.

You and I know that those past certainties were an illusion.

Both of our countries have embarked down roads of change. In so many respects, we share that road.

When I wrote to congratulate you on your election victory last March I said that New Zealand and Australia are natural allies, probably as no two other countries can be.

That is a fact not only of history but a fact of daily life for New Zealanders and Australians. Every day, thousands of ties of family, work, commerce and travel bind New Zealanders and Australians together.

Our role as politicians is to give those ties substance at the level of leadership.

As we consider the paths to the future, a future that includes the nations of Asia as well as traditional ties to Europe and North America, the trans-Tasman relationship is more significant than it has ever been in the past.

Our Governments consult and co-operate on a broader range of issues than probably any two sovereign countries in the world. Every week, every month, we deal with issues that go to the heart of what our two countries want for the future.

We have talked formally and informally about many issues since John Howard arrived on Saturday.

The discussions were conducted in the most friendly of fashion as befits the closeness of our two countries.

Trade between our countries approaches $10 billion on an annual basis.

We remain each others major market for manufactured goods.

Overall Australia remains New Zealand's largest market. New Zealand is Australia's third largest export market.

Further, bilateral trade in services stands at around $2.5 billion a year and investment in both directions is strong.

That brief analysis tells us that the Closer Economic Relations (CER) that our nations agreed to in 1983 is alive and strong and of great benefit to both countries.

We both benefit from it as our societies evolve at a speed which would have been hard to imagine even 10 or 20 years ago.

Even in such fundamental matters as our constitutional processes, we are dealing with change and challenge.

In your case, you are confronting the issue of whether Australia should move from constitutional monarchy to republic status. In New Zealand, the move to proportional representation and Coalition Governments has caused much interest.

I am very confident that having moved smoothly through the process thus far, we can look with confidence to a period of stable and progressive government.

When we sat down and talked, we found that common considerations drive all these changes. We each seek to pursue broad and bold visions that are good for the country.

We have found in our talks that we are, of course, asking many similar questions.

How do we secure sustainable economic growth which is the engine that drives new opportunities?

How do we deliver social polices that genuinely offer the most vulnerable stepping stones to independence and power over their own lives?

How do we secure equity and opportunity for indigenous people, and address their legitimate grievances while balancing these claims with other demands on public spending?

And how, in our shared corner of the world, do we respond to and help shape the rapidly changing global and regional scene?

There has been some media speculation on our two countries approach to the issue of security and defence.

What we are doing in New Zealand is to have officials conduct a Defence Assessment so as to be in the position to provide Ministers and Government with Defence force structure options.

As the Coalition Agreement states the Government is committed to maintaining a skilled, professional, and well-equipped Defence force.

Central to our considerations is our commitment to pursuing our closer defence relationship with Australia as we deal with whatever security challenges that the 21st century may bring.

Australia and New Zealand find ourselves no longer distant from markets and influences that will shape our future.

The global centre of economic gravity has shifted. The defining characteristic of the first half of the 21st century will be the growth in economic power and influence of the Asia Pacific region.

New Zealand and Australia are rising to that challenge, enjoying that opportunity. How our countries integrate into this region, which is home for both of us, is perhaps the most important single question your Government and mine will have to answer on behalf of our people.

It is reassuring for us in New Zealand to know that the country which is closest to us, not just in geography but also in our thinking, is travelling down a similar road as us.

From ANZAC Cove to CER, we have clocked up a lot of history on that road together.

We have made our contribution to the international community jointly or separately over many years.

As we have learned to co-operate so we have learned to relish fair and vigorous competition.

In the marketplace, on the sportsfield, you'll never see a Kiwi defer to an Aussie, or vice versa. You're our best opponents, the mates we love to beat.

Speaking of sport, can I say I am delighted that we have an Australian coach helping our cricket team.

It means when they don't do so well you can share part of the blame but when we win it's an all New Zealand effort.

Prime Minister, I want to give you an assurance today. My Government commits itself to continue the co-operation in all areas that has made the relationship special.

This is the first in an annual series of meetings which you and I have agreed to establish. We will meet at various other international forums as well. Close and regular contact should serve both countries well.

While each country will work to define its own identity, while we will compete for markets within and beyond our countries' boundaries and while we will not always agree, the ANZAC relationship is special to New Zealand.

It is not only sentiment that drives our relationship.

It is calm, rational, strategic and commercial commonsense as well.

That's a powerful combination which touches all our lives today and will in the future.

Prime Minister, it is the most important thing for my Government to know we have a deep and understanding relationship with Australia.

Thank you.

Ends