National Office and branch activities.

• Position: INSTITUTE NOTES - New Zealand Institute of International Affairs

On 13 October the National Council again convened in a Zoom meeting to consider changes to the structure of the NZIIA. It was agreed that the proposed restructure should go ahead, with the replacement of the present National Council/Standing Committee framework with a small board and an annual general meeting. A working party will now draw up a revised constitution, which will be submitted to a special meeting of the National Council, at which time the National Council will be disestablished. Provision was made for electing the board by all members of the NZIIA. The council agreed that Sir Anand Satyanand should remain president until the annual general meeting next year. (See the article by Sir Anand and Melanie Thornton elsewhere in this issue.)

There was discussion of the proposition that the funding of the NZIR should be changed. Removing the provision that members' subscription should include the NZIR will lead to a major drop in the magazine's revenue. During the discussion MFAT's representative, James Waite, indicated that the ministry considered the NZIR 'extremely important' and feared that 'if lost it could not easily be recovered'. The council agreed that this matter should be considered by the board with these comments in mind.

A Maori name for the NZIIA, Whare Tawahi-a-mahi i Aotearoa, was approved.

On 29 October the NZIIA co-hosted with the United Nations Association an event to mark the launch of A Seat at the Table: New Zealand and the United Nations Security Council 2015-2016, edited by Graham Hassall and Negar Partow. The proceedings included a panel discussion moderated by Dr Partow.

On 17 November soon-to-depart US Ambassador HE Scott Brown addressed a rather meagre audience at Victoria University of Wellington on 'What Challenges and Opportunities Lie Ahead for the US-NZ Relationship Following Elections in Both Countries?'

On 25 November a Zoom webinair was held on 'Are the Belt and Road Initiative and the Free and Open Indo Pacific Compatible? Balancing the Competition and Co-operation with China'. The speakers were Professor Akio Takahara (University of Tokyo), Professor Natasha Hamilton-Hart (director of the New Zealand Asia Institute) and Associate Professor Damon Salesa (University of Auckland), with Associate Professor Jason Young (director of the New Zealand Contemporary China Research Centre) as moderator.

Christchurch

On 19 August Sharon Zollner, ANZ's chief economist, gave an online address to the branch on...