Select committee to visit the Pacific

The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee will travel to Tonga, Samoa, Niue and the Cook Islands for four days, from Tuesday 7 July to Friday 10 July, as part of its inquiry into New Zealand’s relationships with the South Pacific countries.

John Hayes, Chair of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee, advises that the committee is keen to hear the views of Pacific people on economic development, aid and other aspects of our country’s relationships with other Pacific Forum nations.

During its visit to each country the committee will meet with parliamentarians to discuss their perceptions of the relationship between our countries, explore issues their parliaments confront in areas such as health, education, transport, infrastructural development, private sector, entrepreneurial development, and if any mechanisms are needed to help facilitate stronger interaction with Pacific peoples living in New Zealand.

The committee also wish to listen to the views of their entrepreneurs and exporters on improvements which could be made to remove barriers to the New Zealand market.

The members travelling are: John Hayes, Jacki Dean, Dr Paul Hutchison, Keith Locke, Todd McClay, HV Ross Robertson, Carmel Sepuloni, and Hon Luamanuvao Winnie Laban.