Clinton disappointed by trip postponement – Ambassador

US Ambassador David Huebner today expressed his disappointment at the postponement of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's New Zealand visit, due to start tomorrow.

Mrs Clinton cut short her Pacific trip to return to Washington and coordinate US relief efforts in Haiti, where it is being reported the death toll after yesterday's earthquake could be as high as 100,000.

She had been due to visit Australia after New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

"I have spoken with her travelling party and with Washington several times in the past few hours and I know that there's nobody more disappointed about the postponement of the trip than the secretary herself," Mr Huebner told journalists at a media conference in Auckland today.

"She said yesterday in Hawaii that she puts a priority on our relationships with our Pacific neighbours.

"She was very much looking forward to her three days here in New Zealand as a way to have a conversation with a close and good friend and find ways to expand and deepen what is already a very warm and close relationship.

"In all of my communications with the secretary's travelling party and with Washington, she uses the word 'postponement', and we know it is her desire to reschedule the trip as soon as her schedule and Minister McCully's schedules allow.

"We're hoping to do whatever we can to make that sooner rather than later."

Mrs Clinton was intending to continue with her trip as recently as late morning today, he said.

"What changed were reports of the enormity of the humanitarian disaster in Haiti, which was not clear from the earlier reports.

"We know now that large areas of the city were flattened. As much as a third or more of the population is homeless. The institutions in Haitian society have ceased to function, and there are real issues with food and water, the rescue and the risk of disease if other issues aren't dealt with quickly.

"As we here in New Zealand know very well from the Samoan tsunami, when a neighbour is in need, good neighbours focus all of their attention on doing what needs to be done to help remedy a catastrophic situation.

"The President clearly wants his aid team around him, as the United States finishes developing and implementing its reaction to the catastrophe in Haiti."

Ambassador Heubner praised the work of the many people who had worked on Mrs Clinton's trip over the holiday season.

"There have been people here in New Zealand and elsewhere who have worked through Christmas and New Year in order to make this a very productive trip.

"Special thanks should go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Foreign Minister Mr McCully himself, and to the visits and ceremonials office and to the Prime Minister's office, as well as local authorities here in the Auckland area for being so diligent, so accommodating and so warm about helping us organise what really was a massive undertaking.

"I would emphasise that we know it's the holiday season, there were people who should be on holiday who were not on holiday getting ready for this trip, and we very much appreciate all of that effort," he said.

Mr Huebner said he was looking forward to the re-scheduling of Mrs Clinton's visit, which would not be during a holiday period.

He added that there was no specific time frame yet, and it would be unlikely any more details would be available until Mrs Clinton returned to Washington.

Mrs Clinton had been scheduled to arrive in Auckland early tomorrow and hold formal talks with Prime Minister John Key and Mr McCully later that day.

She had planned to stay until Sunday, meeting a wide range of New Zealanders at several functions.