National Office and branch activities.

• Position: Institute Notes

On 8 April Rt Hon Sir Kenneth Keith (Judge, International Court of Justice and former NZIIA President) spoke at Victoria University of Wellington on 'Resolving International Disputes: The Role of Courts'. The final event in the NZIIA 75th anniversary lecture series, this address was attended by 195.

A roundtable was held with HE Unal Cevikoz, Deputy Under-Secretary for Asia-Pacific in the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a former Turkish Ambassador in Iraq, on 15 April. A note on this event by the director is to be found elsewhere in this issue.

The NZIIA joined with the New Zealand Centre for Public Law to stage a seminar on 16 April on 'Constitutional and Electoral Reform in Tonga'. It was led by 'Asipeli 'Aminiasi Kefu, Tongas Solicitor-General. Sixty-five attended.

Two functions scheduled in April had to be cancelled because the speakers were unable to reach New Zealand due to the Icelandic 'ash cloud.

Two publications containing the texts of major addresses and presentations from the 2009 75th anniversary programme are nearing completion.

A Standing Committee delegation led by Russell Marshall met with the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee of Parliament on 20 May. This was the first ever such meeting; a report will be included in the next issue.

The NZIIA's annual dinner was held at the Wellington Club on 3 June, with John Allen, MFAT's CEO, and the Australian High Commissioner, HE Paul O'Sullivan, as guest speakers. The National Council met the next morning. A full report on them will be included in the next issue.

The NZIIA Standing Committee met on 28 April; among decisions taken was one on the director's recommendation to establish a programme sub-committee, to enable the Standing Committee to have closer oversight of and input to the annual schedule of seminars and conferences.

Auckland

On 1 April a seminar was held with Cleo Paskal (Associate Fellow at Chatham House), on 'Global Warring: How Environmental, Economic and Political Crises Will Redraw the World Map'. On 14 June the branch joined with the Fulbright New Zealand Alumni Association and the Political Studies Department of the University of Auckland to stage a lecture by Dr Jon Johansson (Victoria University of Wellington Politics Department) on 'Obama in Political Time: Presidential Leadership in the 21st Century'.

Christchurch

The following meetings were held:

15 Apr Tony Browne (Acting Deputy Secretary of Foreign Affairs), 'New Zealand and...