A lone protester calling on Australia's government to close its asylum seeker detention centre in Nauru has confronted Prime Minister Julia Gillard on her visit to Queenstown.
Ms Gillard and NZ Prime Minister John Key laid wreaths at the Queenstown War Memorial on Saturday afternoon, following bilateral talks in which Mr Key announced that from 2014, New Zealand will accept a yearly intake of 150 refugees processed in Australia.
As they headed back to their car, a woman held up a cardboard sign reading "Close Nauru", in reference to the detention centre reopened by Australia's government in August.
AAP reports that the woman, who was reluctant to speak to media, said New Zealand should be taking more refugees than its annual 750 quota.
New Zealand has failed to meet the quota in recent years, with the Government attributing that to disruption from the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
