New Zealand's Foreign Minster to visit Fiji

Last Updated: Tue, 9 Dec 2008 02:15:00 +1100

New Zealand's foreign minister Murray McCully will visit Fiji later this week as part of the Pacific Forum ministerial Contact Group tasked with encouraging Fiji's return to democratic rule.

He says that since becoming foreign minister last month, he has had a number of discussions with colleagues from around the region which have underlined a shared concern that a way must be found to get Fiji moving in the right direction.

Mr McCully says the Contact Group's visit is an important opportunity to talk to a range of people in Fiji about the best way of helping their country make genuine progress towards a return to democracy.

The Contact Group was established in March this year at the Forum foreign ministers meeting in Auckland. It comprises the foreign ministers of Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, and Australia.

The group will meet representatives of Fiji's interim government, and other politicians, during a three-day visit starting Wednesday.