National Office and branch activities.

• Position: INSTITUTE NOTES

On 3 May the prime minister, John Key, addressed a meeting at Parliament on 'New Zealand and the World'. (The edited text of his address is to be found elsewhere in this issue.) Green Party co-leader James Shaw, who is also spokesperson for climate change and economic development, spoke on the same subject at Victoria University on the 31st.

The NZIIA's Annual Dinner was held on 7 June, with the US ambassador to New Zealand, HE Mark Gilbert, as guest speaker. The National Council meeting was held next day at the Wellington Club in Wellington. Sir Douglas Kidd was re-elected as president. A full report on both events will be included in the next issue

Christchurch

The following meetings were held:

19 Apr Associate Prof Amy Fletcher (University of Canterbury), 'U.S. Foreign Policy after the 2016 Presidential Election: Moving Forward or Breaking Apart?'

31 May Prof Martin Holland (director of the National Centre for Research on Europe/EU Centres Network New Zealand), 'Two Referendums and Whose Funeral? 40 Years of British Prevarication and Ambivalence Towards European Integration'.

Hawke's Bay

On 12 May the French ambassador in New Zealand, HE Florence Jeanblanc-Risler, addressed the branch on 'Current Perspectives in Europe from a French Viewpoint'.

Nelson

The following meetings were held:

9 Feb Daryl Copeland (Toronto University), 'The Results of the Recent General Election in Canada'.

4 Mar HE Rob Zagmann (Netherlands ambassador), 'The Three Rs of Concern to the European Union--Refugees, Referenda and Russia'.

5 Apr Stephen Jacobi (trade and economic consultant), 'The Results of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations'. 21 Apr HE Mikalis Rokas (head of the EU Delegation in Wellington), 'Recent Developments in the European Union and the EU-New Zealand Discussions on a Free Trade Agreement'.

27 Apr Simon Draper (MFAT), 'The Campaign to Win a Seat-for New Zealand on the UN Security Council'.

14 Jun Maty Nikkou-O'Brien (NZIIA executive director), 'The Foreign Policy of Iran'.

Waikato

The following meetings were held:

18 May Prof Dov Bing (University of Waikato), 'The Foreign Policy of Israel, Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia: Radical Changes, New Dimensions'.

25 May Simon Gray (PhD candidate in the University of Waikato's Political Science and Public Policy Programme and a visiting...