The USNZ Partnership Forums are organized by the USNZ Council and its New Zealand-based counterpart, the NZUS Council. The Partnership Forums are held every 18 to 24 months alternately in Washington DC and New Zealand. The forums are widely recognized as having contributed significantly to the improvement in relations between New Zealand and the United States that has occurred over the past five years. The Partnership Forum is supported at the highest level of both governments but is strictly non-partisan and non-governmental in nature. On each occasion high-level delegations have participated from both sides.
The 2015 Partnership Forum was held in Auckland, New Zealand June 30-July 1, 2015. The US Delegation to the Forum included a Congressional delegation, led by Congressman Erik Paulsen, together with senior members of the Administration, officials, business leaders and other influential members of New Zealand’s American based constituency. The New Zealand delegation was comprised Ministers, senior officials, together with many of New Zealand’s business leaders. Danny Russel, the U.S.Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific was the keynote speaker for the event.
