Judith Collins thinks it would be a good idea to send Winston Peters to North Korea - and not so the National Party can see the back of him.
She actually thinks the Foreign Minister could do good job of helping bridge the gulf between New Zealand and the reclusive state, which has endured a brutal dictatorship for more than six decades.
"We shouldn't underestimate the way in particular many cultures in the world respect age and experience," Ms Collins told The AM Show on Friday.
"He's a very experienced politician - 40 years in the job - and he's learnt a lot. I thought he was quite capable when he was Minister of Foreign Affairs last time."
During the last Labour-NZ First coalition, Mr Peters brokered a somewhat unexpected deal with North Korea - safe haven for almost 100,000 birds that migrate between the countries. He failed to convince the state to dismantle its nuclear weapons programme.
"It was an unusual outcome, but maybe we can shoot higher this time and might possibly be successful," he told media in October.
Ms Collins says New Zealand is uniquely poised to broker a deal.
"New Zealand's got a good reputation for being an honest broker, and we're hardly a threat to North Korea - or anybody else really. Why wouldn't we?"
Despite his reputation at home, Ms Collins says Mr Peters does a "fine" job when he's out of the country.
New Zealand fought against North Korea in the war, which technically hasn't ended - no peace treaty between the North and South has ever been signed.
Newshub.
