NEW ZEALAND: Prime Minister John Key congratulates Australia's re-elected PM Julia Gillard

Record ID: 556003

  • Title: NEW ZEALAND: Prime Minister John Key congratulates Australia's re-elected PM Julia Gillard
  • Date: 8th September 2010
  • Summary: CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND (SEPTEMBER 7, 2010) (REUTERS) NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER JOHN KEY AND AIDES WALKING INTO BUILDING MAN TAKING PICTURE (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER, JOHN KEY, SAYING: "Yes, I want to offer Julia Gillard my congratulations we look forward to working with her. We have already established a relationship in the short time that she was Prime Minister before the Australian elections. Obviously pass our commiseration on to Tony Abbott. It was a very hard-fought campaign in Australia but in the end, from New Zealand's point of view, we look forward to working with the government and to re-establishing those very strong trans-Tasman Australian relations." KEY TALKING TO JOURNALISTS JOURNALISTS LISTENING TO KEY
  • Embargoed: 23rd September 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: New Zealand
  • Country: New Zealand
  • Topics: International Relations,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAV9A421YA5X3FL2DM0DTQYXML
  • Story Text: Prime Minister John Key took time out from offering support to the residents of tremor-hit Christchurch to congratulate his newly elected trans-Tasman counterpart, Australia's Julia Gillard.
    "Yes, I want to offer Julia Gillard my congratulations we look forward to working with her. We have already established a relationship in the short time that she was Prime Minister before the Australian elections. Obviously pass our commiseration on to Tony Abbott. It was a very hard-fought campaign in Australia but in the end, from New Zealand's point of view, we look forward to working with the government and to re-establishing those very strong trans-Tasman Australian relations," he said.
    Gillard clung onto power following a tense three weeks in which independent lawmakers were lobbied by both her Labor Party and the opposition Coalition Party to form a minority government.
    Independent MP's Robert Oakeshott and Tony Windsor announced their decision to support Gillard's Labor government at a joint press conference earlier on Tuesday (September 7).
    Their decision led to the Labor party winning the right to form a minority government by a margin of only one seat.
    New Zealand's second-biggest city, Christchurch, was hit by a magnitude 7.1 quake in the early hours of Saturday morning (September 4) which caused damage to homes and businesses in the city centre.
    The city remains in a state of emergency.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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