Australia to take South Pacific leaders to UK royal funeral

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tuvalu have accepted his offer to fly representatives to Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral. He says other British Commonwealth island leaders could also join them. Albanese says all 10 former British colonies in the Pacific region have been offered help. One of those, New Zealand, sent a delegation to London on Wednesday headed by Prime Minister Jacinta Ardern and including the country’s Māori king. Albanese has said he did not want leaders from remote island nations in the Australian region to miss out on the London state funeral on Monday because of logistical problems. Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga and Vanuatu could also take up the offer.