A senior United States senator, John McCain, says New Zealand's nuclear free policy should not affect the country's chances of securing a free trade deal with the US.
Senator McCain, who lost out to George Bush in the 2000 Republican presidential race, flew into Christchurch from Antarctica on Tuesday night and was meeting on Wednesday with Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Phil Goff.
McCain says New Zealand and the US have had their differences over the nuclear issue, but the Cold War is over.
The Senator says the disagreement should not affect issues of mutual interest such as free trade, and he would like very much to see a deal between the two countries.
The government has previously identified a free trade agreement with the US as a key goal but no talks have been held.
McCain was accompanied on the visit by Republican Congressman Sherwood Boehlert who chairs the US House of Representatives science committee.
Fresh from their visit to Antarctica, the two senior American politicians say climate change should be a higher priority for the United States government.
While the US rejects the Kyoto Protocol, it is meeting on Wednesday and Thursday in Sydney with other large, polluting nations and industries in a bid to agree on a common global warming strategy.
