EDUCATION Minister Mike Vibert is on an official visit to Australia for the Commonwealth Games.

He will be attending the official opening of the Games on Wednesday in Melbourne and on Thursday he has been invited to a lunch hosted by the Australian prime minister John Howard in the presence of the Queen.

Tomorrow the Senator will be attending the Commonwealth Sports Ministers Conference.

The Minister, whose portfolio is Education, Sport and Culture, left Jersey a week ago and arrived in Australia on Wednesday.

He is accompanied on the trip by his assistant director, Derek de la Haye.

The final cost of the trip to the taxpayer will not be known until the two men return.

However, the Senator’s air fare cost £141.60 and Mr de la Haye’s was a similar amount as they used business points accumulated by the States for the travel and only had to pay taxes.

Last Thursday Senator Vibert visited the Games Village and spoke to Jersey team members and officials before they had their official welcome.

He then flew that evening, courtesy of the New Zealand government, to Wellington and visited Victoria University and the Ministry of Education to discuss the possibility of Jersey students taking first and higher degrees in New Zealand.

On Saturday he flew to Auckland to visit the university and meet officials there before flying back to Melbourne earlier today.

From Thursday, the Senator said, he would be supporting the Jersey team and making contacts with sports people from other countries, particularly with a view to informing them of the sports facilities the Island can offer in the lead-up to the Olympic Games in London in 2012.

‘I shall also be visiting Melbourne University and other higher-education institutions and government representatives to talk about the possibility of Jersey students studying here,’ he said.