John Key travelled to Britain a week ago to meet the British Prime Minister and discuss matters of interest to both countries.
Then Mr Key and his family spent last weekend as guests of the Queen at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. The Queen drove him around the property. His son and daughter joined other guests for activities like hiking and shooting. Other guests included Prince William and his wife and baby.
After Britain, John Key visited Paris for talks with the French Prime Minister, Francois Hollande. He wants France to support a free trade agreement trade between NZ and the EU. He also invited Hollande to visit NZ next November after the G20 conference in Australia. Both NZ and France have interests in the Pacific. A French leader has never visited NZ before. Relations between France and NZ have not always been friendly in the past.
Now John Key and his wife are in New York. Yesterday he visited the United Nations. NZ wants to be elected to the UN Security Council in 2015 so Mr Key is looking for friends to support NZ. NZ was last on the UN Security Council 20 years ago. There are five temporary positions and these countries serve for two years. NZ needs 128 votes.
Mr Key has 50 meetings in the next few days so it is a busy time for him. He was briefly sick yesterday while walking to the United Nations and had to stop at a bar until he felt better.
Listen to July 9th 2010 to hear about the French attack in NZ.
Vocabulary
• hiking – tramping, active walking in forest areas
• EU – European Union
• UN – United Nations
• temporary – not permanent
• briefly – for a short time
Questions
• What are NZ’s interests in the Pacific?
• What are France’s interests in the Pacific?
• How do you think you would feel if you were invited to spend a weekend as a guest of the Queen?