Sutton off on his last mission

Jim Sutton leaves New Zealand tomorrow on his swansong mission as Trade Negotiations Minister, but when he returns he is not likely to stay too long in Parliament.

"There are eager new would-be MPs sitting at the top of the list hoping that someone will go. So there is no need for me to remain out of loyalty to the party," he said.

"I lost my [Aoraki] electorate in fairly spectacular fashion in the election so I'm a list MP so I don't need to stay."

Mr Sutton will lead a delegation to Hong Kong for a crucial set of negotiations in the World Trade Organisation's Doha round of talks.

Despite being forced out of Cabinet when he returns from Hong Kong, Mr Sutton said he still owed Labour a lot of loyalty and he was not "bitter and twisted".

He had been among those encouraged to move on to allow Labour to rejuvenate between elections but declined the inducement of a diplomatic post.

Mr Sutton, 64, first entered Parliament in 1984. Former Foreign Minister Phil Goff will pick up his portfolio after losing his own to New Zealand First leader Winston Peters.

Travel has been a huge part of Mr Sutton's job: last year he was out of the country for 120 days and says he could pack a bag and make it to an international flight within two hours.

The amount of travel, he predicts, will be Mr Goff's biggest challenge.

Mr Goff will accompany Mr Sutton to the ministerial meeting in Hong Kong, the third major meeting in the round, after Doha in 2001 and Cancun in 2003.

"The round can't be completed in this meeting, obviously," Mr Sutton said, "though it can survive this meeting with a reasonable chance of being brought to a successful conclusion in the next 12 months, or it could crash and burn."

He did not believe that Europe's intransigence on its own could be blamed if the talks collapsed.

"It's economics versus politics, really, and it's the developing world against the rich established world."

Mr Sutton said personal contacts between trade ministers were far more important than he had ever imagined.

"They can be critical as to whether you get into key meetings, which might be quite small and short, and they can be critical as to whether your propositions are trusted and your interpretations trusted."

He had made lasting friendships with his counterparts. Last year he had entertained the Russian trade minister at his own home because of the personal interest he had taken in a trade mission Mr Sutton had taken to St Petersburg.

And he was particularly proud of his role in having developed New Zealand's relationship with China.

The next five candidates on Labour's list are Wellington lawyer Charles Chauvel, former list MP Lesley Soper, former Silver Fern Louisa Wall, Manukau City Councillor Su'a William Sio, and former newspaper editor and Labour press secretary Brendon Burns.