Nov 2, 2009, 11:27 GMT
Britain's Prince William will visit New Zealand next year for his first official overseas trip representing Queen Elizabeth.
William will represent the queen in Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand from January 17 to 19 and open the new supreme court building in Wellington before travelling to Australia.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the young royal will use his trip to learn about the issues affecting the nation's Aboriginals and see the countryside near Melbourne, which was ravaged by wildfires and killed 173 people earlier this year.
He said in a statement: "The visit originated from a request to the government of Australia by Prince William to visit the country so as to begin to get to know Australia and its people."
"He will have the opportunity to meet a cross-section of Australians involved in a variety of projects of interest".
The three-day trip to Australia will be the first time that William has visited the country since traveling there as a nine-month-old baby in 1983 with his parents the Prince and Princess of Wales.
The 27-year-old last visited New Zealand in 2005 for the British Lions' rugby tour.
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