The nominee to be the US ambassador to NZ says he hopes for closer ties despite a more than two-decade row over nuclear weapons.

Hone Harawira says the only adverse comments he's had about leaving Brussels to sightsee in Paris have been from the media.

"How many times in my lifetime am I going to get to Europe? So I thought, 'F*** it, I'm off. I'm off to Paris'," Maori MP Hone Harawira said.

The Government is considering its response to Fiji's expulsion of acting New Zealand Deputy High Commissioner Todd Cleaver yesterday.

New Zealand's top diplomat in Fiji, Todd Cleaver, is about to be expelled from Fiji.

Fiji's government has accused NZ and Australian envoys of interfering in the nation's internal affairs.

Prime Minister John Key and Foreign Minister Murray McCully leave today for a series of Asian trade summits.

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to visit New Zealand early next year.

Aid has begun arriving in Samoa in what will be an ongoing effort as the scale of devastation from the quake and tsunami becomes clear.

A team of Army medics is flying to Samoa to join a civilian medical team that left NZ late last night as the death toll from the tsunami rises.