7 Jul 2011

Tonga foreign affairs clarifies embassy rumours

1:31 pm on 7 July 2011

A Tonga Foreign Affairs official says no decision has been made around embassy closures in New Zealand and Australia.

This comes after the government announced in the budget that shutdowns would happen as it strives to cut spending.

Foreign Affairs' acting secretary says it's likely that a decision to close the High Commission in Wellington will be made within a fortnight.

But Susana Faletau says Tonga intends to maintain its diplomatic presence in both New Zealand and Australia.

She says downsizing the offices in both countries are among the options being considered.

"And establishing maybe a smaller mission in Bangkok, mainly because our Canberra mission also covers the eight other countries and a lot of them are in Asia."

Susana Faletau says a decision on a Bangkok mission will probably be made within the next couple of months.