ANZ leaders vow Gaza action & trade unity at Queenstown summit

I wish you all a good day. Sunday the 10th of August 2025, and I’m Talia Menashe with this PNR National News Special Bulletin,

bringing you the latest from Queenstown and the United Nations.

We begin at the foot of the Remarkables, where the snow-capped peaks have formed a dramatic backdrop to the annual Australia–New Zealand Leaders’ Retreat. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stepped off his RAAF jet just after dawn yesterday and was greeted by a haka performed by local Ngāi Tahu schoolchildren before joining New Zealand’s Christopher Luxon on the shores of Lake Wakatipu.
Inside the heritage-listed Eichardt’s Hotel the two leaders spent five hours behind closed doors, emerging with a 12-point communiqué that commits both countries to:
a joint task force on critical-minerals supply chains to break China’s dominance of lithium and rare-earth processing;

shared cyber-defence with a new so-called “Quad-Plus” cyber cell headquartered in Wellington and staffed by Australian Signals Directorate and GCSB analysts;

accelerated negotiations on a single ANZAC-visa for skilled workers, aimed at cutting red tape for 40,000 cross-Tasman job moves annually;
and, most pointedly, coordinated diplomatic pressure on Israel as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepens.

Speaking exclusively to PNR, Mr Albanese said the two nations would “use every lever in the multilateral system” to prevent what he called a “catastrophic escalation”. Mr Luxon added that New Zealand’s rotating seat on the UN Security Council next month will be used to draft a new cease-fire resolution within 72 hours.
Turning now to New York, where the UN Security Council held an extraordinary Sunday session under the urgent “Any Other Business” provision, after Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant formally notified Secretary-General António Guterres of “Operation Iron Shield”, a full-scale ground offensive intended to seize Gaza City within seven days.
Council diplomats tell PNR that satellite imagery already shows three armoured brigades massing near the Erez Crossing, while the Israeli Navy has established a maritime exclusion zone stretching 12 nautical miles off the Gaza coast.
In response, the so-called “Quintet on Gaza”—Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and New Zealand—circulated a joint démarche overnight, warning that any widening of the offensive would “trigger immediate consideration of targeted sanctions and an arms embargo”. Foreign Minister Winston Peters told reporters in Wellington that New Zealand has already paused all export permits for military components that could be used in Gaza, a move mirrored by Canberra last night.
Humanitarian agencies are painting a dire picture. UNICEF’s Gaza director, Catherine Russell, spoke to us via crackling phone line from Rafah:
“We have 200,000 children who have had no clean water for three days. If the electricity plant goes down— which engineers say could happen within 24 hours— we lose incubators, vaccine fridges, and sewage pumps. The word ‘catastrophe’ doesn’t even begin to cover it.”
Back in Queenstown, locals have been turning out in force. A snap vigil organised by the Otago Muslim Association saw more than 800 people gather on the lakefront at midnight, holding candles and Palestinian flags. Police say the gathering remained peaceful, and Mr Luxon later walked among the crowd, laying a wreath of pōhutukawa and eucalyptus leaves.
As we go to air, the UN Security Council is reconvening at 2 p.m. New Zealand time to vote on a resolution demanding an immediate cessation of hostilities. We’ll bring you live crosses to our correspondents at the Beehive and outside the UN Headquarters throughout the day.
I’m Talia Menashe . Stay with PNR for rolling coverage, and coming up after the break: the latest from the Gold Coast as the Suns eye their first-ever AFL finals berth. GOOD BYE..