Associate Justice Minister Lianne Dalziel is learning first hand how a country with a reputation for heavy drinking is handling its alcohol problems.
Ms Dalziel is in Edinburgh, where she met Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill today to discuss proposals which include minimum pricing, banning irresponsible promotions and introducing a social responsibility fee.
Mr MacAskill said he was pleased to bring her up to speed.
"Scotland has an unenviable reputation as a hard drinking nation that's proud to be able to drink others under the table," he said in a joint statement.
"For many years this has been seen as a source of pride to many Scots.
"We are now beginning to start a different international reputation on alcohol."
He said Scotland had admitted it had a problem with alcohol misuse, and was taking "bold action" to tackle it.
Ms Dalziel said New Zealand faced similar challenges, and doing nothing was not an option.
"I will be returning to New Zealand with some good ideas to assist in our law reform work," she said.
