20 July 2012

Media Statement

McCully leads delegation to Pacific Mission

Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully will lead a delegation to Tonga, Niue, and New Caledonia next week for the 2012 Pacific Mission.

“The Mission is an important opportunity for a variety of New Zealand representatives to engage with their Pacific counterparts on issues such as tourism, renewable energy and infrastructure,” Mr McCully says.

“It also reinforces the importance New Zealand places on the Pacific region.”

As part of the Mission, Mr McCully will open the first solar power plant in Tonga - a joint renewable energy project between the governments of New Zealand and Tonga, Tonga Power and Meridian Energy.

“This plant is leading the way in much-needed diesel alternatives for the Pacific, and will provide one megawatt of power to Tongatapu,” Mr McCully says.

In Niue, Mr McCully will join Premier Talagi to celebrate the completion of a $10.1 million redevelopment of Matavai Resort.

“This is an important step in affirming Niue as a quality tourist destination and the Matavai as its accommodation flagship,” Mr McCully says.

The Mission will also visit New Caledonia.

“New Caledonia is our closest Pacific neighbour geographically and our third largest export market in the region. It is an important partner for New Zealand, so it makes sense for us to explore opportunities for closer engagement and cooperation.”

ends

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Arguably Reassuring: Inspector-General Finds GCSB "Arguably" Legal

Of the 88 individuals:

• 15 cases involving 22 individuals did not have any information intercepted by GCSB.

• another four cases involving five individuals were the subjects of a New Zealand Security Intelligence Service warrant and the GCSB assisted in the execution of the warrants. The Inspector-General is of the view that there were arguably no breaches and the law is unclear.

• the Bureau only provided technical assistance which did not involve interception of communications, involving three of the individuals, so no breach occurred.

• the remaining cases involved the collection of metadata, and the Inspector-General formed the view that there had arguably been no breach, noting once again that the law is unclear.
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