Testing trip
Parliament heads into a fortnight’s adjournment next week, with many ministers heading overseas. The Prime Minister is off to Europe for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. But it will be other meetings where Jacinda Ardern’s foreign affairs position will be tested, as she gets together with British PM Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron and PM
douard Philippe, and Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel. And there could be questions about Russia when Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters calls on the European Union and Nato. Things will be less testing for a cross-party group of MPs led by the Speaker Trevor Mallard, when they visit Singapore, Spain, Portugal, and Britain.