New Zealand PM visits Australia

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has arrived in Canberra on Wednesday for a visit with his new Australian counterpart, Tony Abbott. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott sandwiched John Key's visit between his return from talks with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta on Monday and his return to Bali later in the week for the APEC Summit. John Key is the first foreign leader to meet Tony Abbott in Australia, and they held bilateral talks on refugees and trade in the Parliament House on Wednesday afternoon. At Wednesday's joint press conference, Abbott said he was happy to keep talking to John Key about welfare arrangements. "New Zealanders have better access to Australia than the citizens of any other country and that's right and proper," Abbott said. "But I'm very happy with the situation that exists right now, which is that Kiwis coming here know that they're expected to work and pay taxes from day one." According to local media, there are over 300,000 New Zealanders on special category visas in Australia, paying billions of dollars in taxes but who are denied some key benefits of permanent residency, such as disability care, welfare and social housing. And Australians living in New Zealand receive all the entitlements of citizens. The issue is a sore point for many New Zealanders, and was the first and last question asked by the New Zealand press pack during John Key's first joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott in Canberra on Wednesday. Key said he would continue to advocate for New Zealanders. " There are some issues that would be best if they were addressed," he said. "(But) we totally respect the sovereign right of the Australian government to make the decision how it will treat people that come and work in Australia."