National Office and branch activities.

Shortly after the NZIIA's Annual General Meeting outgoing Board member and former chair Sir Anand Satyanand GNZM, QSO accepted an invitation from the Board to serve as the institute's patron.

The National Conference was held at the Pullman Hotel in Auckland on 8 June. More than 150 attended with about 30 zooming in. A report is to be found elsewhere in this issue.

The prime minister, Rt Hon Chris Hipkins MP, addressed the NZIIA at Parliament on 7 July. His topic was 'Aotearoa New Zealand's Foreign Policy in a Complex World'. (The text of his address is to found elsewhere in this issue.)

On 25 July German citizen David McAllister MEP, the chair of the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs and substitute member of both the Committee on International Trade and the Sub-Committee on Security and Defence, gave a presentation at Victoria University of Wellington on 'Development, Trade and Security in the Pacific: A European Perspective'.

The NZIIA joined the Council for International Development Aotearoa New Zealand to host a pre-election debate 'Navigating Global Uncertainty: Aid, Trade and Foreign Affairs' at the Hotel Intercontinental, Wellington on 3 August. The panellists included Dan Rosewarne MP (Labour Party), Hon Gerry Brownlee MP (National Party), Golriz Ghahraman MP (Green Party) and Brooke van Velden MP (ACT Party). Josie Pagani moderated the debate.

Auckland

The Auckland branch, in collaboration with the Asia New Zealand Foundation and Victoria University of Wellington's Centre for Strategic Studies, hosted a roundtable on 9 June with Prof Cheng-Chwee Kuik, head of the Centre for Asian Studies at Malaysia's National University, and Dr Luqmannul Hakim, director of the Institute of International Studies and lecturer at the Department of International Relations, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. The roundtable discussion focused on geopolitical rivalry in the Asia-Pacific region and the role of multilateral institutions and middle and small powers.

The following meetings were held:

25 Jul HE Dr Zsolt Hetesy (Hungary's ambassador to New Zealand), 'Countries and International Organisations in Times of Turmoil'.

10 Aug Prof Ramesh Thakur (Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University), 'The Post-Ukraine World Order'.

Hawke's Bay

On 24 April Prof Iain Johnston, Harvard University and Sir Howard Kippenberger visiting professor in strategic studies, addressed the branch.

Nelson

The following meetings were...