Audrey Young: NZ foreign policy can depend on the audience

John Key and John Kerry have a close working relationship.

Does New Zealand have an independent foreign policy?

This week has felt a little bit Yes and No.

Yes in New York and No in Washington.

When Murray McCully was in charge of the script it was Yes and when it was John Key it was No.

That was probably to be expected with each playing to his role.

New York is where New Zealand is seeking support for a seat on the Security Council and McCully's in charge of winning. In Washington Key was an invited guest of President Barack Obama.

On the issue of Iraq, McCully said he hoped the Security Council showed some leadership and did a better job than it did with Syria.

On the issue of Iraq, Key said New Zealand was never going to "bag" the United States anyway.

The phrase "New Zealand has an independent foreign policy" is a repeated phrase in the campaign for a seat. It means New Zealand is not obliged to take particular actions by dint of belonging to any political or security alliance.

It checks out what the old club thinks about an issue — US, Canada, Australia and Britain — but does not always follow them, a case in point being an inquiry into atrocities in Sri Lanka at the end of the civil war.

Having no obligations means that where the US goes, New Zealand does not have to go.

So when Secretary of State John Kerry talked yesterday about knowing he had New Zealand's support for its next steps in Iraq without having to ask — consulting the region's leaders and sending up to 300 military advisers to check out Iraq's capability — it jarred.

Key said later he was flattered by the assumption Kerry knew he would have New Zealand's support because it meant he knew New Zealand's preference would be a diplomatic solution.

With the nuclear rift over, the Governments appear to have close working relationships that surpass anything that existed when New Zealand was in a formal alliance.