Brash heads to US for defence and trade talks

National leader Don Brash will meet United States Deputy Secretary of State Bob Zoellick in a four-day trip to Washington next week.

He will also meet Deputy Trade Representative Karan Bhatia and defence policy officials at the Pentagon.

He will also be a key speaker at the US-New Zealand Partnership Forum in Washington, organised by the New Zealand United States Business Council.

He will be accompanied by foreign affairs spokesman Murray McCully and list MP Tim Groser, a former top-ranking ambassador.

And while Mr McCully was undertaking a review of National's foreign policy, Dr Brash said: "I don't think we're expecting any dramatic changes in foreign policy, certainly not that I'm aware of."

Dr Brash said yesterday he expected the nuclear issue to be raised in some of the talks in Washington - as it often is with New Zealand politicians.

Mr McCully is promoting a hardening of National's nuclear policy to remove the reference to reference being the only vehicle for change - which would align its policy with Labour's.

"But the only change contemplated is one designed to avoid confusion. Basically in the election campaign we made it clear that we had no plans to change the nuclear free legislation at all, which is essentially the same position as Labour's."

Whatever the outcome of the consultation with the party he said the key position was that National planned no change to the nuclear-free legislation at all.

Dr Brash leaves at the weekend on his annual overseas trip. He will go to the United States, spend two days in London, a day and a half in Beijing and three hours in Singapore.