National office and branch activities.

• Position: Institute Notes

Scott Gallacher has withdrawn from the Standing Committee.

Prime Minister John Key addressed a meeting on national security at Victoria University on 5 November. (The text of his address can be found elsewhere in this issue.)

On 18 November Ambassador Robert Carvalho Azevedo, the director-general of the World Trade Organisation, gave a presentation on 'Bali One Year On: What Next for the WTO?' He assessed progress since the agreement on 7 December 2013 on a package of issues, including a landmark multilateral trade facilitation agreement designed to streamline trade, allow developing countries more options for providing food security, boost least developed countries' trade and help development more generally.

A panel discussion on 'Trade Negotiations in the Twenty-first Century: What's at Stake?' was held at VUW on 11 December to mark the twentieth anniversary of the completion of the Uruguay Round. This meeting was co-hosted with the New Zealand Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, APEC Business Advisory Council, Business NZ and ICEL. Panellists included Chris Carson (Ministry of Primary Industries), Ken Geard and Catherine Graham (Fonterra), Alastair Macfarlane (NZ Seafood Council), Tim Ritchie (NZ Meat Industry Association), Mark Trainor, David Walker and Penny Ridings (MFAT), Scott Champion (Beef and Lamb NZ), Chris Nixon (NZIER), Charles Finny (NZ Trade and Enterprise) and Phil O'Reilly (Business NZ).

Auckland

On 10 November Aaron Y. Zelin (Richard Borow fellow, The Washington Institute) addressed the branch on 'Islamic State and the Wider World'.

Christchurch

On 4 November Karim Pourhamzavi, a post-graduate student in Canterbury University's School of Social and Political Sciences, addressed the branch on 'The Situation in Gaza and the Two States Solution'.

Nelson

Since early April the branch has held seven meetings. On 14 April Professor Natalia Chaban of Canterbury University, who was born and educated in the Ukraine, spoke about Russian actions in the Crimea and in eastern Ukraine. This was followed on 12 May by a joint presentation on New Zealand's relations with South Africa: former Minister of Foreign Affairs Hon Russell Marshall provided a historical assessment of the relationship in the days of apartheid and the high commissioner of South Africa, Zodwa Lallie, assessed recent events and our current relationship.

On 16 June the chair of Tourism New Zealand, Kerry Prendergast, gave us a wide-ranging survey of the remarkable...