 Good afternoon. I'm Rene Bauer, the Senior Advisor and Director of the Southeast Asia Program and the Pacific Partners Initiative which focuses on Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific and we are very fortunate here today to have John McKinnon, the the Secretary of the Ministry of Defense of New Zealand. Thank you for joining us John. Thank you. You're here in Washington in part for a strategic dialogue with the State Department and other U.S. agencies. Could you tell us a little bit what's the nature of the discussion and what you talked about? Yeah, we set this up following the Wellington Declaration which was signed by Secretary Clinton and our Foreign Minister, Mr. McCulley in November 2010 and it gives us an opportunity to talk about a range of issues whether in the Asia Pacific region or more broadly when New Zealand and the United States have common interests or common concerns. So it was a good discussion, a very good format and we hope to continue to do that. The talks involved you and a senior counterpart from the trade and economic side. So we're combining security and political issues with the trade and economic issues, is that right? Yes, we're partners with the United States in a number of organizations, APEC, the East Asia Summit and part of that agenda is the Trans-Pacific Partnership which is an initiative to free up trade amongst nine countries. So we were able to discuss issues relating to that, also security issues, issues relating to counterterrorism, proliferation and the like. So it was wide-ranging and very useful. You mentioned earlier the Wellington Declaration. Yeah. Many observers think that was sort of a new benchmark in the U.S.-New Zealand relationship. Would you agree? Where are the U.S.-New Zealand ties headed and what's your perspective from a security perspective? Well, I think the Wellington Declaration signaled a new phase in that relationship. We're now cooperating together across a whole range of activities, whether that's to do with climate change, to do with areas in the South Pacific where we both operate. Of course, we also have forces together in Afghanistan. There's a very wide range of interactions now between the United States and New Zealand as good as it's ever been. In terms of the U.S.-New Zealand are sitting together in Asian regional architecture, what's New Zealand's perspective on some of this new developing architecture, the East Asia Summit, the ASEAN Defense Minister's meeting? I think there have been some really positive developments because we now have a number of structures which bring together the key players, the key people who participate in the region, particularly with the ASEAN Defense Minister's meeting, plus that for the first time has brought together Defense Ministers and Defense Officials and Defense Force people from across the region, the United States, China, the countries of ASEAN, of course, who are the hosts, ourselves, Australia and others. So that's a new forum, but I think it's making a very valuable contribution to regional security. The United States and China, of course, I think everyone in the region seems to be concerned about that relationship and making sure that it goes well. But the South China Sea has certainly focused attention, at least here in Washington, on the potential for disputes and what's New Zealand's perspective on the U.S.-China relationship and areas such as the South China Sea? Well, perhaps if I just say on the South China Sea, there are a number of claimants there who have claims to various islands in that region. We don't take a position on those particular territorial claims. We just want an urge all parties to resolve them in accordance with international law and the law of the sea, and we're pleased a progress can be made in that way. We have obviously a very good relationship with the United States. China is a very important economic partner for us, one of our big trading partners, and we, of course, like all the countries of the region, are keen that the United States and China can manage their relations productively and constructively. New Zealand is a major trading nation, and you depend on maritime access to get your exports and bring your imports in. In the defense 2010 defense white paper, you lay out some new strategies for New Zealand's defense thinking. Could you talk about some of the highlights of that defense strategy? There are a couple of key elements. I mean, the primary one is that our main region in which we undertake defense activities is clearly our neighborhood, the South Pacific, but we're talking there about an area which stretches from the equator to Antarctica. So that's a big area to deploy forces in, and we have to be able to make sure that we can sustain and project them there. But beyond that, we have an interest in maritime security, of course, so we have deployed our ships into Southeast Asia off the Horn of Africa, and that's a way of saying, yes, we recognize that these issues can affect our security as much as those closer to home, and we remain engaged in the international community for that reason. And you mentioned the South Pacific. It's an area where New Zealand has a great presence, and we just talked to the Fijian ambassador a couple of weeks ago, and he mentioned that New Zealand plays a particularly constructive role, and I think we heard that from other island nations. What more would you like to see the United States do when it comes to the South Pacific? I think there's a lot of areas we're already, we're cooperating. For instance, we have just recently you and we have been helping with water supply in some of the islands which have been deeply affected in a variety of ways by natural pressures and natural disasters. And I think the areas which are important to the Pacific, such as human resource development, infrastructure, the effects of climate change, those are areas where I think we can cooperate very effectively with you and we would be very keen, and I think many of the Pacific countries would be keen to see an increased United States presence. New Zealand's a good friend of the United States, and we should ask friends for advice as we sort of shift our focus, the pivot, or the rebalancing, whatever you care to call it, that the Obama administration has announced on Asia. Any advice for us as we proceed down that path? Well, we don't normally give advice to other governments, but I think from your own forays into the region, I think you'll find that there's a recognition that the United States presence in the region is very constructive and people will welcome that rebalancing. Secretary McKinnon, thanks for joining us at CSIS today. Thank you very much. Good to be here.