The pair hosted a summit for the Christchurch Call on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly leaders' week in New York. They are expected to announce any policy to emerge from those talk
Getting fly with a little help from our friends:
A scarcity of commercial international flights saw PM Jacinda Ardern hitch a ride from London to New York with Canada's PM Justin Trudeau after the Queen's funeral.
Canadian journos on Can Force One – an Airbus 210-300 - tweeted about themid-air alliance, showing Ardern meeting the Canadian funeral delegation – including Grey's Anatomy and Killing Eve star Sandra Oh - and holding a meeting with Trudeau.
PM Trudeau has touched down in New Jersey en route to UN. 2nd remarkable plane ride this trip - Trudeau, @jacindaardern chatted w/members of delegation. In one pic @IamSandraOh, the other former PM Martin. Ardern is wearing a scarf gifted to her on board by @cassidy_caron. pic.twitter.com/pFYEcUsz2D
But Ardern would have felt right at home – the old clunker is a youthful 30 years old - the same age as the two RNZAF Boeings which fly Ardern round.
Both the New Zealand and Canadian planes have an increasing tendency of breaking down in inconvenient places, although Trudeau has two back-ups to collect him.
Ardern's partner, Clarke Gayford, also hitched a ride home (or at least as far as Australia) on PM Anthony Albanese's plane, along with Ardern's chief press secretary Andrew Campbell.
Campbell sat with racing legend, horse trainer Gai Waterhouse – and presumably tried for some tips for the next Melbourne Cup to bring home. It turns out Campbell has family links to racing royalty, including Bob Skelton who won the Melbourne Cup in 1976 on Van Der Hum.
(Ardern's brushes with celebrity continued in New York at the Earthshot event - Matt Damon was there while Cate Blanchett zoomed in. Ardern spoke at the event by royal decree: Prince William asked her to take his speaking slot.)
Judith Collins Redux: Last week's news that Judith Collins had done a course on being a company director may have sparked hopes for some in National that she was preparing for an alternative post-2023 career.
Those hopes are dashed - it takes more than a bruising election result and an ignominious stripping of the leadership to keep Collins down. Nominations to be the National Party candidate for Papakura closed on Wednesday and Collins confirmed she has put her name in the hat again. She has held the seat since entering Parliament in 2002.
It is not yet known whether any other souls have put their names in the hat to challenge her, but they would be very brave souls.
National Party leader Judith Collins campaigns in 2020. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
Where the people from all walks of life are:
Many parallels have been made between Sir John Key and his protege Christopher Luxon, and Luxon delivered another this week: the apparently shared view that Air NZ's Koru Lounge is a microcosm of people from all walks of life.
Christopher Luxon in the Koru Lounge in 2019, meeting a person from 'many walks of life' (Shane Jones). Photo / supplied
In a bid to show how accessible he was, Key said in 2016: "If I go to the Koru Lounge, for instance, I don't sit off away in the corner. I stand out in the middle, people come up to me from all walks of life every single day."
On Tuesday, Luxon was also talking about the accessibility of politicians: "The fact that we do run into each other in the Koru Lounge and in our travels and on planes, I think that's a good thing. The accessibility of our politicians to the public is a good thing."
Green co-leader James Shaw not at all at sea when it comes to business. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The newly reinstated Green Party co-leader James Shaw got a tick of approval from business leaders in the NZ Herald's Mood of the Boardroom survey on Friday: they ranked him highest in their estimations of any minister, including the PM and Finance Minister Grant Robertson. Which would be an excellent result: if he was the leader of Act.
However, being clasped to the bosom of Big Business is not such a good look for a Green Party leader – Shaw will be very relieved the survey was not published until after he was re-elected.
