Rumours blaze during Abbott's NZ jaunt
New Zealand blazed through Australia on the cricket field, but it's rumours of another leadership spill that Tony Abbott's desperate to stub out.
The Australian prime minister's first official trip to New Zealand was blackened by speculation he could be facing a renewed challenge to his Liberal Party leadership.
And while the leaders spent some quality time watching New Zealand play Australia at the Cricket World Cup on Saturday, things were going no better for Mr Abbott on the field.
"There's not a rural fire happening at the moment, there's an urban fire happening at Eden Park where we're burning our way through the Australian wicket," New Zealand Prime Minister John Key joked at Auckland's central fire station just before Australia were all out for 151.
"We would urge you not to go and put that fire out."
The pair - along with Mr Abbott's wife Margie - were at the fire station to pay their respects to Kiwi firefighters who'd helped battle blazes in Australia.
"There are times that I envy that there is something unambiguously good about the work that you do for our community," Mr Abbott told the firefighters.
Fire officer Lance Dixon, who helped fight 2009's Black Saturday blaze, said it was "quite humbling" to be thanked by Mr Abbott and Mr Key.
Earlier in the day Mr Abbott and Mr Key were pouring water on claims that the Australian political turmoil had clouded the trip.
Mr Key said it had been a privilege to work alongside Mr Abbott, calling him an outstanding prime minister.
Mr Abbott, meanwhile, appeared not to be taking the rumours seriously, joking: "John and I obviously have discussed leadership, and I've come to the clear conclusion that John's leadership is safe."
"That's a relief!" Mr Key replied.
New Zealand-born Mrs Abbott only arrived in the country early on Saturday morning, and managed to fit in a trip to the World of Wearable Art exhibition and lunch with Bronagh Key.
"We talked about general things that women talk about. We talked about our families, our jobs, our children," she told NZ Newswire.
During Mr Abbott's fleeting 26-hour trip, the two leaders laid a green and gold wreath at the Auckland War Memorial Museum, dined at a Cricket World Cup gala, and held bilateral talks centred on their contribution to the fight in Iraq against Islamic State.
