4 Aug 2010

NZ pledges more money for fisheries enforcement

10:49 pm on 4 August 2010

The New Zealand Government is to put an extra $4.8 million into beefing up fisheries enforcement in the Pacific region.

Prime Minister John Key made the announcement at the Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Vanuatu on Wednesday.

The money will go towards managing delivering observer programmes throughout the region, aimed at making sure crews are correctly reporting their catches.

Mr Key says the Pacific fisheries are the cornerstone of the regional economies and some are being raped and plundered by outside interests.

The money will help enhance fisheries monitoring as well as creating about 250 skilled jobs, he says.

Meanwhile, Mr Key is expected meet with Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith at the forum but says any discussions about a regional centre for asylum-seekers are "only hypothetical" at this stage until a new government is voted into power in Australia.

Mr Key says New Zealand is willing to discuss the issue but is already drawing some lines in the sand.

He says New Zealand is not interested in hosting any kind of a refugee centre and it does not want to add to the number of refugees taken into New Zealand under agreements with the United Nations.

Scholarships to NZ increased

The New Zealand Government has announced an increase in the number of scholarships available to young Pacific students to study in New Zealand.

The number of scholarships available each year will double from 100 to 200 in 2011.

Prime Minister John Key says New Zealand is developing a new scholarship scheme to focus on increasing study opportunities for Pacific people, raising student performance and developing leadership skills.

Low-key forum

The forum is the most significant regional meeting of the year, but will be more low-key than usual, as some countries will not be represented at Prime Ministerial level.

Australia and Solomon Islands are in the midst of elections and Sir Michael Somare of Papua New Guinea was a last-minute no-show, citing personal reasons.

New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully says the summit will carry on as usual, but leaders present will not be looking to make any radical decisions.