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New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said she will discuss concerns about key regional and global security challenges when she meets with her Chinese counterpart, foreign minister Qin Gang in Beijing Friday.

New Zealand's foreign minister, Nanaia Mahuta, will leave for China on Tuesday to meet her counterpart Qin Gang on the first such visit by a New Zealand minister since 2019.

The New Hope mining company pushed for 14 years to expand the New Acland mine near the Queensland town of Oakey. Now it's been approved, but some locals say they'll fight it "like a mongrel dog".

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New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday that even "as China becomes more assertive in the pursuit of its interests", there are still shared interests that the two countries can and should co-operate on.

New Zealanders are required to wear masks in supermarkets and shopping malls as the country battles its second wave of Omicron infections, but experts want the government to go even further.

MORNING BRIEFING: The NSW Premier's first overseas trip in the role is being overshadowed by two inquiries, one investigating former deputy premier John Barilaro's appointment to a US trade role, and the other, an ICAC investigation into Drummoyne MP John Sidoti's alleged corruption.

The investigation of the soon-to-resign Chief Judge of New York can continue.

Former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro withdraws from his role as the state's Trade Commissioner to the Americas, describing his position as "untenable".