Hercules grounding delays trip to meet Pacific leaders

A grounded Hercules plane has scuttled a trip to the Pacific during which Foreign Minister Murray McCully and other MPs were to meet the leaders of the Solomon Islands, Kiribati and Samoa.

The six-day trip was planned for next week and was also to include MPs from non-Government parties - including Shane Jones of Labour and Keith Locke of the Greens - so they could see Pacific issues first hand and offer their knowledge and expertise.

But the Hercules that was to fly the party from the Solomons to Kiribati is temporarily out of service, so the trip has been postponed.

Included in the itinerary were meetings with Solomons Prime Minister Derek Sikua and delegates of the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (Ramsi), which involves 16 countries including New Zealand and Australia.

New Zealand aid to the Solomons is focused on education and, in line with the Government's new direction, economic development.

The group was then scheduled to fly to Kiribati to meet the Christchurch-educated President, Anote Tong, before going to Samoa and Christmas Island.

The time in Samoa was to include a forum to discuss tourism and business, involving representatives of those industries including local Tourism Minister Misa Telefoni.

Mr Jones said he was interested in seeing how fisheries could help Pacific nations.

"How do the islands of the Pacific maximise wealth from the fisheries that they have jurisdiction over, and what role can New Zealand play either through public or private enterprise to enhance economic security?"

Mr Locke was more focused on how aid money was being spent in the Solomon Islands, particularly in education and security through Ramsi.

"A lot of money has gone into that so it's important to have parliamentary accountability.

"We have supported the Ramsi operation and help with a wide range of aid, so finding out how effective that has been is quite important."

The effects of global warming on Kiribati and the relief effort in Samoa following last year's tsunami were also topics of particular interest for Mr Locke.

The trip is now unlikely to go ahead soon, as Mr McCully has travel commitments throughout next month and July.