PM Bill English heads off on Pacific Mission - and Trump likely to be on agenda

Prime Minister Bill English was made a Samoan matai recently and is now visiting other Pacific Islands. Photo / Supplied

Prime Minister Bill English is jetting off to the Pacific Islands and the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement will mean an escape from the topic of US President Donald Trump is unlikely.

English's four-day trip on the Air Force Boeing will visit the Cook Islands, Niue and Tonga, and he will take 11 of his fellow Parliamentarians and a delegation of businesspeople and Pasifika community leaders.

English will meet Cook Islands PM Henry Puna, Niue's Premier Toke Talagi and Tonga PM Samiuela ʻAkilisi Pōhiva.

US President Donald Trump is likely to arise after the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on climate change and concerns the US will reduce the amount pledged to a fund to help vulnerable countries adapt to climate change - the Pacific is the most vulnerable region to the effects of climate change and rising sea levels.

The leaders will want a briefing on English's meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and English will want to gauge how the leaders view the USA, especially in light of increasing China aid in the region.

English expected regional security to be a topic and New Zealand also hoped to deepen commercial ties with the region.

"It demonstrates the importance we attach to our relationship with our Pacific neighbours, but also to New Zealand's contribution to global security with our role in the Pacific. It is important New Zealand remains a trusted partner to those countries."

It is the same trail former Prime Minister John Key took on similar missions soon after he became Prime Minister in 2009 and again in 2014 but it will be English's first visit to all three of the islands.

After eight years of dealing with Key, the Pacific leaders will be meeting a new Prime Minister, a new Foreign Minister, Gerry Brownlee and a new Pacific Affairs Minister, Alfred Ngaro.

English would also visit tourism operators and New Zealand aid projects - since National came into power, the aid funding has been targeted at economic development such as tourism which is critical for the Pacific Islands' economies.

New Zealand has special constitutional responsibilities with Niue and the Cook Islands, which are part of the realm of New Zealand - although Niue's Premier Toke Talagi was recently re-elected saying he wanted to continue to push for Niue to have a seat at the United Nations - something New Zealand has blocked.

It comes a week after he visited Samoa for its Independence Day where he was given a matai title by the village his wife Mary is from. English was also filmed dancing at that occasion - but indicated there would not be a repeat performance on the Pacific Mission: "I'll leave that to Winston Peters. I think he's probably got the skills."

Other MPs going include NZ First leader Winston Peters, Maori Party co-leader Marama Fox, United Future leader Peter Dunne, Labour's Carmel Sepuloni, Jenny Salesa and Poto Williams, and National's Jonathan Young and Paul Foster-Bell.