KEY POINTS:
The "baubles of office" of Foreign Minister Winston Peters are not as glittering as they might seem.
The travel is tedious, the paperwork enormous and everyone wants a little bit of his time, he indicated yesterday in a speech about the reality of life in the diplomatic fast lane.
"There is this romanticised notion that the life of a Foreign Minister is one of endless travel and cocktail functions," he told an Auckland University diplomacy course. "That is a false picture.
"There is a great deal of travel but it is travel that involves tiring schedules, im-portant meetings, and the need to build strong and influential bonds with counterparts."
Mr Peters sought the role of Foreign Minister as part of the confidence and supply agreement his New Zealand First Party reached with Labour after saying in the election campaign that he would not accept the "baubles of office" and go into Government.
"There are some in my office who would have me constantly sitting in meetings," he said yesterday. "Some would want me reviewing policy options, Cabinet papers and the like, and there are others who would have me travelling offshore all the time.
"Others still would want me to concentrate more on my role as Minister of Racing, or Associate Minister of Senior Citizens; and there are those who want me to do more as leader of New Zealand First."
The most critical part was getting the balance right.
The Foreign Minister's job involved "an endless paper war", he said, citing "submissions, cables, correspondence, Cabinet papers, intelligence briefs - and briefings for overseas trips".
