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Is this is best gift in the history of Aotearoa’s diplomacy? (Photo: MFAT via X with additional treatment by The Spinoff).
Is this is best gift in the history of Aotearoa’s diplomacy? (Photo: MFAT via X with additional treatment by The Spinoff).

PoliticsMarch 5, 2025

From karaoke machines to horses: New Zealand’s most delightful diplomatic gifts

Is this is best gift in the history of Aotearoa’s diplomacy? (Photo: MFAT via X with additional treatment by The Spinoff).
Is this is best gift in the history of Aotearoa’s diplomacy? (Photo: MFAT via X with additional treatment by The Spinoff).

Gifts are not unusual in politics, especially where foreign affairs are involved. But have any of our globe-trotting dignitaries ever scored anything to rival a Mongolian horse? Gabi Lardies scoured the registers to find out.

When Winston Peters was given a horse last week in Mongolia, the honour was immediately announced on X. It’s an unusual turn of events not just because the particular gift was living and breathing, but because most gifts our politicians receive over the value of $500 are quietly declared in the yearly pecuniary register rather than shared online. In these documents, among the rugs, vases, bottles of whisky, fancy boxes and fine textiles, are some of the greatest diplomatic gifts New Zealand has received. Read on for our top-tier selection.

Karaoke machine

One lucky John Key received an Xtreme Diamond Magic Sing karaoke machine from the president of the Philippines in 2012. Perhaps this is why in 2015 he chose to belt out Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas’ live on radio instead of pulling five swishing ponytails (seriously, he was given the option). Two years later Max Key released his single ‘All the Way’ – coincidence? Or spending five years training on Daddy’s karaoke machine?

Verdict: Securing 15 minutes of fame for your son is nice, but it’s not a horse.

‘An alcohol drinking flask in the form of what seems to be a sheep or a goat’

collage of a sheep, flask for alcohol and question mark
One can only guess what the combination looks like

In 2017 National list MP Christopher Finlayson received a flask from a visiting delegation from the Supreme Court of China. He did his best to give a detailed description in the pecuniary register, but this was a unique gift: “An alcohol drinking flask in the form of what seems to be a sheep or a goat (quite difficult to identify the species) made of a form of dark or green-coloured material, possibly bronze or iron,” wrote Finlayson. Images of said flask have never been released to the public.

Verdict: Cool, but sheep and goats aren’t as cool as horses. 

Fine jewellery

The public registers of pecuniary interests began in 2006, when Helen Clark had just two years left of her nine-year run as prime minister. Still, the haul of jewellery she received in that short time is enviable. There was an amber necklace from the president of Lithuania, a gold necklace and earrings from the prime minister of Papua New Guinea, a  gold necklace from the president of the Philippines, a silver and gold brooch from the vice president of Indonesia and a gold diamond brooch from Hyundai, the Korean car (and ferry) giant. There were also numerous gold and silver statues, boxes and bowls.

Verdict: Very shiny, expensive stuff, but not lovable and wise like a horse.

Six sheep (dead), corn, watermelons and potatoes

When Jacinda Ardern headed to Kerikeri in February 2019, she went in the prime ministerial van with baby Neve’s pram in the back, not anticipating to be presented with a mountain of food. Owen Kingi of Whangaroa had collected the above bounty from his farm and helpers laid it out on a blanket with sacks of ice surrounded by ferns. Kingi told the Herald that the koha was given with the intention to “open the front door to a meaningful discussion” about land his family wanted returned. Though we usually think of diplomatic relationships as being interactions between political entities from different nation states, the relationship between hapū and the Crown, somewhat mediated by the Treaty, is not so different. The food was a diplomatic gift to “show good intentions and to be fair and kind, regardless of what has happened to us as Māori people”, he said.

Verdict: Though Kingi’s gift was generous, as mentioned earlier, sheep aren’t as cool as horses, especially when they’re dead.

Large glass goblet

In the 2010 register, Wayne Mapp, then minister of defence, declared a large glass goblet that was given to him by the United States secretary of navy. We’ve all seen the lengths that Indiana Jones went to for one specific goblet, the holy grail that granted eternal life, so it seems unfair that one can simply be bestowed, until you remember that in 2009, New Zealand sent about 70 elite SAS troops to Afghanistan for the third time, at the request of the US, on top of New Zealand troops having been regularly sent since 2001.

Verdict: It can’t gallop or trot, so it’s not that great.

A lovely pen

photo of a black pen with gold details
Not a horse (Photo: Webb’s)

Later sold at Webb’s auction house for $956, this lovely Montblanc pen was given to Helen Clark by South African president Thabo Mbeki in 2002. The Meisterstück No 149 fountain pen, black with gold-coated detailing, is handcrafted and was engraved with “Her E. Helen Clark”. Fancy pens litter our registers of pecuniary interests like socks on the bedroom floor before washing day. Like socks, pens will inevitably be useful, but get one for a present and you’ll hide in your room to cry because Santa obviously didn’t read your letter which said “I’ve been very good and I want a horse or a kitten.”

Verdict: Not a horse (or a kitten).

Jamón ibérico

Iberico bellota ham, a variety of jamón, is a type of cured leg of pork from the Iberian peninsula. The black Iberian pigs it’s made from are fed a carefully balanced diet of mainly acorns, giving the jamón its distinctive intense, sweet and succulent taste. In June 2009, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain came to visit, bringing with them jamón ibérico as a gift to then prime minister John Key (along with glass urns with gold embossing, a silver photograph frame and a bronze statuette of a horse). I do not believe this delicacy is even available at Farro, and when a leg of it appeared mysteriously in Hobsonville Point in 2022, it was such a big occasion that emergency services were called.

Verdict: Perhaps Stamina would enjoy a nibble as a special treat?

Cohiba Behike cigars

Peters strikes one as the kind of person who savours the fine delights of life, such as eating, drinking and pin-striped suits. He also appears to enjoy the occasional cheeky dart. The Cuban ambassador, Edgardo Valdés López, chose well when he gifted Peters a box of Cohiba Behike cigars in 2019 – they’re considered the Bentley of cigars and a single one can set you back US$487.50.

Verdict: Cigar good, but not delightful like a horse.

A horse (of course)

photo of winston peters patting a horse on the head
Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth but do look a gifted horse in the eyes and give it a nice pat (Photo: MFAT via X)

Winston “not my first rodeo” Peters was in Mongolia last week to mark 50 years of diplomatic relations when a dark brown mare was presented to him. Stamina, with her luscious long tail, is a gift of the highest honour. Without horses there would be no Mongolia, where, as well as being a source of national pride, horses symbolise freedom and wellbeing. Winston is now among dignitaries like former US president Joe Biden, Pentagon chief Mark T Esper and Indian defence minister Rajnath Singh in having received a horse from Mongolia. Stamina will likely not return home with Peters, as diplomatic gift horses are traditionally not taken away by their recipient, but rather cared for in Mongolia, and available for the recipient’s next visit. Winston did not take his cowboy hat with him but said he was “delighted”.

Verdict: No long faces here.

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Gabi Lardies
— Staff writer
Keep going!
A black and white photo of two people (Nicola Willis on the left, Christopher Luxon on the right) is paired with coloured images: a jar of Vegemite with a banana in front of Willis, and a jar of Marmite with an apple on top in front of Luxon. The background is pink and white plaid.
A mitey battle (image: Anna Rawhiti-Connell)

OPINIONPoliticsMarch 4, 2025

Mite-y rift revealed within the highest ranks of government

A black and white photo of two people (Nicola Willis on the left, Christopher Luxon on the right) is paired with coloured images: a jar of Vegemite with a banana in front of Willis, and a jar of Marmite with an apple on top in front of Luxon. The background is pink and white plaid.
A mitey battle (image: Anna Rawhiti-Connell)

Marmite should be basking in the same warm prime ministerial glow as Weet-Bix right now, but the finance minister had other plans.

In case you’ve been buried under a pile of melted plastic for the last two months, school lunches have become something of a political norovirus. An endless spray of stories featuring pictures of “food” that, in some cases, looks the same as it would when coming back up, has been haunting the government’s hunt for cost efficiencies and David Seymour’s dreams.

In response to questions from Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking on Tuesday morning about whether we have a problem with school lunches or whether it’s all a “pile on from the unions, the teachers and the media to make David Seymour look bad?” prime minister Christopher Luxon levelled with him as you would a mate. “The bottom line is, look, some of the lunches aren’t up to scratch, but Seymour is all across the issue.”

Media, of which Hosking is most definitely not a part, have been cataloguing the “issue”. Like the political virus it is, the “issue” has spawned into many mini-issues, enough for there to be one for every letter of the alphabet. As a media outsider, Hosking volunteered some media analysis, opining that we have a story a day about school lunches because “someone’s a whiner”.

After last week’s verbal pas de deux over whether Luxon would have sacked Andrew Bayly had he not resigned, Luxon seemed determined to be more definitive this week. Instead of giving the appearance of jigging about nervously, trying to avoid the oratorical ninja stars Hosking was throwing at his head, this week, he had answers and culinary suggestions.

“Well, well, yeah,” he said, seemingly agreeing with Hosking about the vast proliferation of whiners. He had some advice for them: “Look, here’s the deal. I mean, if you don’t like the lunches, actually, just go make a Marmite sandwich and put an apple in the bag.”

Marmite sandwiches are what parents should pack for lunch if they’re unhappy about the school lunches their kids are getting. The good ol’ Marmite sandwiches Mike and Chris used to eat at school after they’d walked three miles barefoot in the snow to get there. The prime minister added the apple in the bag for vitamins and variety.

A schoool lunch of late (Image: Reddit)

Owned by Unilever globally and manufactured by Sanitarium here, Marmite should be basking in the same glory as Weet-Bix — also owned by Sanitarium and beloved by Luxon — if it weren’t for a certain finance minister lobbing a grenade into this festival of parental responsibility lectures. Speaking to Newstalk ZB’s Ryan Bridge on Monday afternoon, Nicola Willis said, “if mums and dads are really unhappy, there’s nothing to stop them putting a Vegemite sandwich and a banana in their children’s school bag.”

“In the category of “Topics That Divide Kiwis,” Stuff’s Emily Brookes wrote in 2022, “the top entry must go to Marmite vs Vegemite.” Jars of Marmite were being flogged online for $800 during one of this nation’s most catastrophic events, Marmageddon. This country is passionate about yeasty spreads. Both politicians must know that this nation splits right down the middle on the issue and that their divided position could be read as a sign of cabinet disunity. Just two weeks ago, the most significant rift around the cabinet table was Seymour telling Luxon publicly “to get f..ked”, as one veteran Labour politician told Richard Harman’s Politik. By comparison, that was peacetime. This is war.

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Anna Rawhiti-Connell
— Senior writer

Perhaps Willis was just very attuned to her own words issued on February 24 about the taxation of charity and not-for-profits and decided to steer clear of a spread manufactured by a non-taxpaying church. Perhaps Willis just comes from a Vegemite household. Based on Luxon’s recollection of his lunches, it seems he comes from a Marmite one. Despite his insistence that Hosking and he ate the same lunch, Hosking has not confirmed his preference for spread or fruit.

For now, Promite might be the safest choice until polling determines the least politically damaging spread. In the meantime, go make a Marmite sandwich and put an apple in the bag.