CANBERRA—Australia's friendship with New Zealand will be an asset in international negotiations for a post-Kyoto emissions target, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says.
For his first meeting as Prime Minister with a foreign leader, Mr Rudd chose a casual lunch with New Zealand counterpart Helen Clark at his Brisbane home.
The pair discussed climate change ahead of the Bali summit, where Mr Rudd is due to arrive on Tuesday.
"We'll be in close contact as governments on the challenges we face with climate change, the challenges we face with Bali, plus the negotiating agenda over the next couple of years - it's going to be a tough, hard negotiation," Mr Rudd said.
"But when you've friends with common interests then we can work these things through."
New Zealand ratified the Kyoto Protocol in December 2002.
Its delegation in Bali has agreed to support a cut in greenhouse gas emissions of between 25 and 40 per cent by 2020.
Mr Rudd's first act as Prime Minister last week was to ratify the Kyoto Protocol but he will not set a 2020 target until next year when he receives a report from economist Ross Garnaut into emissions trading and the impact of interim targets.
Ms Clark said she was delighted Mr Rudd had made time to meet with her before travelling to Bali to ensure all of the issues were on his "radar screen".
"From New Zealand's point of view, we would like to see out of that negotiation a long-term emissions goal agreed on which is comprehensive and everybody needs to be in on that," Ms Clark said.
"One of the critical negotiations for all of us is going to be when it's finally agreed, what the countries' emissions reduction goal should be, how that is then distributed across Australia, New Zealand, EU, Japan, Russia, Canada.
"That is a discussion that is yet to be had."
Mr Rudd said he had known Ms Clark for a long time and becoming Prime Minister meant he was renewing the friendship.
"As for New Zealand, we have so many things in common," he said.
"From Australia's point of view, this is our sixth largest trading relationship. We have common security policy interests.
"I look forward to not just continuing this relationship but broadening it."
Mr Rudd said he had always been impressed by New Zealand's achievements in the South Pacific.
"They've always been very attentive to emerging problems and what needs to be done," he said.
"None of us ever get it perfectly right because it's a complex region but I look forward to working very closely with the New Zealand Government and with Helen's Government on the challenges we face there."
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