PM calls for 'ceasefire' in Peters, media war

A potential source of friction between the Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has been smoothed over, with Helen Clark moderating her stance on Mr Peters taking a press secretary when he travels overseas.

Mr Peters has been fighting a running battle with journalists who covered his trip to the United States last week, a dispute which descended into a bitter slanging match at a press conference on Monday.

A clearly exasperated Prime Minister said she thought it would be a good idea for Mr Peters to take a press secretary with him overseas to avoid further skirmishes with the media.

Soon after Mr Peters rejected that suggestion, and said he was not going to expand the cost of his overseas travel to the taxpayer if a press secretary was not required.

Yesterday in Parliament Helen Clark said she thought Mr Peters' stance was "reasonable".

"At the [press] conference I called for a ceasefire of hostilities," Helen Clark said. "If we would like one in the Middle East it's fair enough to call for one here."

Her call for a truce between the media and Mr Peters was echoed by acting Foreign Minister Michael Cullen, who deflected opposition questions on the issue by saying it was something for the media and Mr Peters to sort out.

Mr Peters is in Malaysia at an Association of South East Asian Nations conference.