UPDATED 2.28PM: Australian prime minister Tony Abbott has spoken at the new Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in Wellington.

Quoting war correspondent Charles Bean, Abbott said the Anzac spirit was about enterprise, endurance and comradeship.

"On the cusp of our second Anzac century, on behalf of the people of Australia I thank you for the honour you do us with this Australian National Memorial here in New Zealand."

Abbott is in New Zealand for the start of Gallipoli's 100th anniversary commemorations, however talks have so far been dominated by the current conflict in Iraq.

Abbott maintains the partnership between the two countries goes back a long way.

"It is a remarkable thing to look back a hundred years to that terrible baptism of fire that our two countries had on the Gallipoli peninsula. It's been a very strong partnership."

Abbott also moved to reassure people attending commemorations in Turkey that they would not be the target of a terror attack. Five men were arrested in Melbourne over the weekend over an alleged plot to attack an ANZAC service there.

"Certainly Australia and I'm sure New Zealand have been working very closely with the Turkish government over the weeks and months to ensure that thing go off as far as they humanely can without a hitch."

John Key also refuted any suggestions that the New Zealand Defence Force and the Government have been less than open and transparent in their deployment, alongside Australia, to train Iraqi forces against the Islamic State.

New Zealand First MP Ron Mark believes the Government has been anything but open about the mission, and he's seen a totally different attitude from NZDF.

"This is a totally different approach to the last chief of the Defence Force, Jerry Mataparae, who looked for more openness and more transparency around deployments, specifically with the SAS. We seem to be flipping and flopping within the NZDF."

Key responded today by emphasising that it's Australia's choice to be open about when our troops are deployed, and denies Mr Abbott gave away New Zealand's deployment date.

"I would push back pretty strongly on the notion that somehow there's either not close collaboration or cooperation. The timing of when the Australians actually go to Iraq, that's a matter for the Australians, it's roughly around the same time as us but not necessarily travelling together."

Key insists the two countries are still able to work closely, and he has "100-percent confidence" in their strategy, despite Australia often making public details which the New Zealand government has refused to talk about.

"The view of the New Zealand military is we should just be slightly cautious about showing people their boarding passes when they leave and when they arrive."