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In terms of having views and being prepared to express them, yes, I think New Zealand's had a leadership role in a lot of things.

I have more engagement with New Zealand than people might think. Unlike the impression I have of the American president, who sits in the Oval Office and people come to them.

New Zealanders have conventions and pleasantries, but we are direct. We are encouraged to be transparent with our behavior and not to employ passive aggression.

This is the difficulty about talking about it without sounding big-headed, but you cannot speak of New Zealand now without my involvement in what it has become.

There's a very go-to kind of attitude in New Zealand that stems from that psyche of being quite isolated and not being able to rely on the rest of the world's infrastructure.

New Zealand's taken some very significant decisions in relation to defence in the last two years.

New Zealand is a place where you can get well.

I see the great continuities in New Zealand history as being decency and common sense and up until now when we've confronted these things we've been able to talk them through, and I'm sure we will with this issue as well.

If the people of New Zealand want to be part of our world, I believe they should hop off their islands, and push 'em closer.

Sometimes I think, 'Why should I care about doing well in New Zealand?'