Patrick Gower: Ardern changes NZ tone on foreign stage

Jacinda Ardern has made a symbolic and significant change to the way New Zealand talks on the international stage.

By addressing climate change at the APEC conference in Da Nang, Vietnam, and with her emphasis and conviction, she has deliberately put New Zealand back in an advocacy role.

While John Key was a total operator on the international stage, advocacy was not what he and National stood for.

However, Ms Ardern has wasted no time in showing she has a different style.

The Prime Minister used New Zealand's shrinking glaciers and the threat of 'climate refugees' from the Pacific as examples of why more needs to be done to combat climate change.

Her first meeting was with Michele Bachelet, the President of Chile - they are two of just three female leaders among the APEC2.

She also shared the stage with a group of chief executives from the world's biggest companies. She met Cheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook and advocate for female leaders.

Canada's Justin Trudeau is hitting the streets and Russia's Vladamir Putin has just touched down.

US President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jin Ping are about to arrive. This is big for Mr Trump - North Korea is the dominant issue. And he is expected to outline his strategy for how America will interact with Asia and the Pacific.

And the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Winston Peters is here. He has met Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov to rekindle New Zealand's relationship.

Last minute negotiations for the TPP trade deal have been fraught and chaotic - trade ministers including New Zealand thought it was sorted - then one country pulled out.

Global politics and power plays - a new world for Jacinda Ardern.

Newshub.