How do you have a Foreign Minister-outside-Cabinet? I don't understand this, is it the equivalent of in the past when we have had cabinet ministers from the Lords instead of the Commons, or is it entirely different?

Either way, it sounds very bad form to have invited him!  

I don’t understand it, either, as there is no constitutional basis for this happening. This is why coalition governments and proportional representation are cobblers (I know New Zealanders will hate my saying that).
   Mr Peters has the function of a Foreign Minister, in that he uses up taxpayer funds for travel, but does not have any say in Cabinet, even though the government in Cabinet has no foreign minister. Make sense? No. Doesn’t to me, either.
   I always include the ‘outside-Cabinet’ when talking about Mr Peters to show how stupid the arrangement is.
   The arrangement came when Labour could not make up a majority in Parliament, and needed a coalition partner. Mr Peters had made certain promises to his constituents during the General Election. If I recall correctly, he said he would never be in a Cabinet with either major party. His voters took that to be a show of strength, that he would not kowtow to either party.
   The result is, as far as I can tell, the opposite, but the important thing is that he said he wouldn’t be in Cabinet, and bingo, he isn’t!
   New Zealanders who read this may be able to correct me on the history, but it sounds reasonably accurate, at least in that Jeremy Wells sort of way.