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CANBERRA - Australia and New Zealand have agreed to work together to tackle climate change and the problems of the South Pacific region, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said today.
Mr Rudd and senior cabinet ministers have spent the morning in talks with Prime Minister Helen Clark in Canberra.
Mr Rudd said they had agreed to work closely on the immediate challenges facing both countries.
"The fact that both Australia and New Zealand now are full ratification states in relation to the Kyoto protocol means that we have an unprecedented opportunity to work closely and seamlessly globally in the international negotiations," Mr Rudd told reporters.
Mr Rudd said Australia and New Zealand could work seamlessly together to tackle climate change.
"We've resolved today to work in a new partnership for the future on climate change," he said.
"You'll see that reflected in the combined positions we take across the many meetings which will occur across the international community in the two difficult years which lie ahead."
Similarly, Mr Rudd said a new partnership between Australia and New Zealand would focus particularly on cooperating to deliver development assistance across Oceania.
"Between us there's something like $1 billion invested on an annual basis into the big development challenges which lie in this region," he said.
However, the record in achieving development goals was not one of "undiluted joy", he said.
"We have an interest as nation states ... to ensure that we maximise our development assistance dollar for the returns in primary health care, primary education and basic development across our Pacific island partner countries," Mr Rudd said.
"This government of Australia looks forward to working in close partnership with the New Zealand government, a new partnership for the future on climate change, a new partnership for the future on the South Pacific."
Miss Clark said she and Mr Rudd had discussed issues such as Afghanistan, east Asia and East Timor along with climate change and the South Pacific region.
- NZPA
