In the end, there will always be a fundamental difference of perspective between New Zealand and Australia on defense, whoever is in government.

- Helen Clark

I think the issue of North Korea is one where the international community as a whole has to work to resolve the crisis.

- Helen Clark

Of course as a small country you're not necessarily in the strongest negotiating position unless you're negotiating with other small countries.

- Helen Clark

Of course I have an opinion on many things but I don't micromanage.

- Helen Clark

We're a nation in search of an identity, but it's quite exciting. I don't regard it as a problem. It's a challenge.

- Helen Clark

Well of course New Zealand isn't anti-American.

- Helen Clark

The Prime Minister is head of team but its not a one woman act. I've been called all those things. Intellectual, sharp-tongued, all true. But what New Zealander is like is to know that someone is in charge and in the end the buck stops with the Prime Minister.

- Helen Clark

It's fair to say that, for much of my lifetime, New Zealand certainly was a property-owning democracy and working people, ordinary people, had assets.

- Helen Clark

I don't know that you're ever going to persuade New Zealanders that they're not going to own their own homes and I'm not going to try.

- Helen Clark

I think that generally New Zealand is respected for the positions it takes because it thinks them through.

- Helen Clark

Marine protected areas, and particularly no-take zones, are very effective in allowing regeneration of fish stocks.

- Helen Clark

People are optimistic about the future.

- Helen Clark

We don't want to deal with a separatist party.

- Helen Clark

Well in the end the world can crank itself up to sanctions, as it has with Zimbabwe, another sad case.

- Helen Clark

As New Zealanders, we've been in on the United Nations from the very beginning, played a role in the drafting of the charter - it means a lot to us that those processes are followed.

- Helen Clark

Fortunately New Zealand doesn't have land borders so we are able to be somewhat more rigorous on who gets in and out of our country than perhaps some people.

- Helen Clark

Well, there have been periods in the past when prime ministers of Australia and New Zealand were at each others' throats publicly and frequently. That's not productive at all.

- Helen Clark

Well, we don't think for a moment that either the U.S. or Australia are out to damage the New Zealand economy, but if there were a sustained period in which they had a free-trade agreement and New Zealand didn't have that same arrangement with the States, that could be both trade- and investment-distorting.

- Helen Clark

In terms of having views and being prepared to express them, yes, I think New Zealand's had a leadership role in a lot of things.

- Helen Clark

There is also a marked global trend towards sustainable agriculture, building on traditional methods which use fewer chemical inputs, carefully manage soil and water resources, and work hand-in-hand with nature.

- Helen Clark