May 25, 2022
Biden date only justification for US trip
Former foreign minister Winston Peters says there’s no point for the Prime Minister to be in the United States if she can’t get a meeting with President Joe Biden.
Ms Arden arrived in New York yesterday at the start of a mission to tell the country New Zealand is open for business and tourism.
She’s travelling with exporters and technology companies who are counting on her star presence to open doors, and she will also appear on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and give a speech at Harvard University.
The Prime Minister has already met with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterresto to discuss the conflict in Ukraine, climate change and more broadly the role New Zealand could play in reform, but officials are still trying to confirm a White House visit.
“I think the question still is relevant now – why is the Prime Minister there is not to see President Biden? It’s hard to conceive of why someone would go all the way to the UK and not see Boris Jonson, or not go to Australia and not see Anthony Albanese, or not be in Japan right now at a critical meeting where we should be involved,” Mr Peters says.