John Key has turned up the heat on the world's most powerful leaders in a hard-hitting speech at the Apec summit.
He used his first formal address as Prime Minister to talk
tough, warning Apec leaders their reputations will be damaged
unless they deliver on promises to free up trade and help lift the
world out of the global financial crisis.
Key also blamed former money trading colleagues for the
turmoil.
The keynote speech was delivered during his debut on the international stage in Peru's capital, Lima.
Key was not pretending to be an old hand at Apec.
"I am giving my first formal address since being elected the Prime Minister of New Zealand two weeks ago and sworn in 24 hours ago," he says to applause.
But clearly being new doesn't mean treading carefully, Key taking aim at the world's 20 most powerful leaders, saying their credibility was shot unless they successfully completed the latest round of world trade talks.
"The G-20 leaders have put their reputations on the line, calling for an agreement by the end of this year on the crucial decisions needed to take this round to a successful conclusion," he says.
World trade talks start up again in Switzerland soon and one of the world's newest leaders says the stakes are high.
"A failure to follow through in Geneva and deliver the results we need would represent nothing short of political failure," he says.
Later Key said cutting tariffs on New Zealand's exports in the so-called Doha round of trade talks would lead to massive gains.
He says the Uruguay round of trade talks had a $1 billion impact on New Zealand's economy and the Doha round would be larger than that.
"So it's billions of dollars of greater trade access," he says.
After taking a crack at the some of the world's greatest economic powers, Key must have been relieved to be backed up by New Zealand's closest ally, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd echoing his view.
"If the G-20 dropped the ball on this it will represent a failure of political leadership. That's exactly the sort of remarks I was making in Washington last week. It's my view. People expect political leaders to act, not simply to describe events," says Rudd.
Rudd was even taking credit for the idea. Not that Key will mind - he'll be happy to end his first day on the international stage having made a splash but not an enemy.
Well briefed
Key arrived in the Peruvian capital well briefed on what to expect after discussing Apec for nearly an hour with Labour's foreign affairs spokeswoman and former prime minister Helen Clark.
Clark attended nine Apec summits while her government was in office.
Key, who holds the tourism portfolio in his new government, told reporters the international recession could have a severe impact on the industry.
If visitor numbers dropped by 10%, the $10 billion a year industry would lose $1 billion, he said.
Key has several high-level bilateral meetings lined up and is likely to hold talks with China's President Hu Jintao.
He leaves Lima on Monday and goes to London, where he will meet the Queen, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other political leaders before coming home.
