7 Jul 2015

NZ's McCully confirms meeting with Nauruan president

1:42 pm on 7 July 2015

New Zealand's Foreign Minister Murray McCully has confirmed he will meet with the president of Nauru this week.

Murray McCully talking to reporters on Wednesday.

New Zealand's Foreign Minister Murray McCully Photo: RNZ / Diego Opatowski

This follows escalating concerns about human rights and the rule of law on Nauru since the arrests of several opposition MPs after a protest last month.

Mr McCully has reiterated New Zealand is taking the reports coming out of Nauru seriously.

The minister says his meeting with the president Baron Waqa is among a number of one-on-one meetings he'll be having with his regional counterparts at the gathering of Pacific Island Forum foreign ministers in Sydney.

Mr MCully says the meeting with Mr Waqa is an opportunity to pass on his country's concerns and discuss New Zealand's aid to the justice sector in light of recent events.

The Sydney gathering which takes place at the end of the week includes talks on regional approaches to disaster response particularly after Cyclone Pam.

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