The National Council.

• Position: INSTITUTE NOTES

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The National Council meeting was preceded as usual by the NZIIA's Annual Dinner the previous evening. There were 135 present to hear guest speaker, Foreign Minister Hon Murray McCully, give a survey of New Zealand foreign policy relationships. (The text of his address is to be found elsewhere in this issue.)

Proceedings at the council on 8 May 2013 began with apologies from President Sir Douglas Kidd and Vice President Professor Rob Rabel, both of whom were unavoidably absent overseas (the former leading the Commonweath Election Monitoring Mission in Pakistan and the latter representing Victoria University in Australia). Acting Chair Peter Nichols noted that amongst friends and colleagues who had passed away in 2012 was the late Sir Brian Talboys, a stalwart member of NZIIA, who was also the first former foreign minister to be its president.

Both the president's and the director's reports were tabled in the 2012 annual report. Sir Douglas Kidd highlighted the very busy year that had occurred in 2012, on a par with the 2009 anniversary year, and expressed his pleasure at the resumption of Track II talks (with Japan) after a break in 2011. Peter Kennedy referred to the close working relationship the NZIIA has with a number of Victoria University institutes and also the very successful diplomatic officer training programme run in Port Moresby for the PNG Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Both reports were accepted accordingly by the National Council.

Turning to the election of officers, the National Council unanimously re-elected Sir Douglas Kidd as president and Professor Rob Rabel as vice president. Similarly, the treasurer, Professor Athol Mann, and managing editor of the New Zealand International Review, Dr Ian McGibbon, were re-elected unopposed. There were no new nominations for honorary vice president and the slate remains the same (except for the death of Sir Brian Talboys).

Murray Denyer was welcomed as the chair of the NZIIA's new Tauranga branch. He was nominated also, and accepted unanimously, as the new chair of the Research and Publication Committee, replacing Suse Reynolds, who was thanked for her contribution. Three new members were elected to the Standing Committee following the retirement of Professor Les Holborow and Dr Rod Alley and the withdrawal (from the co-opted list) of Dr Scott Champion and Erima Henare. Honorary Vice President and Life Member Stuart McMillan took one of the vice...