Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will fly to Papua New Guinea to attend the special Pacific Islands Forum meeting to discuss Fiji's route back to democracy.

Mr Rudd had cancelled his travel plans after PNG Prime Minister Michael Somare shocked forum members by announcing on Friday night he would defer tomorrow's meeting to February 10.

But late on Saturday the meeting was rescheduled for its original date after Niue, the forum's chair, overruled PNG's decision.

The meeting will discuss the fate of Fiji's membership under the leadership of self-appointed interim prime minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama.

''The Australian PM and his team will be travelling to PNG on Tuesday for the meeting,'' a spokeswoman for Mr Rudd said.

Mr Rudd's cancelled trips to India and Switzerland were still off, she said.

Forum organisers have started preparations for the meetings with delegations from 16 countries arriving in Port Moresby in the next couple of days.

The team from Kiribati has already checked in, while Niue premier and forum chairman Toke Talagi was due yesterday and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key is due to arrive tonight.

The one-day forum will focus on a Tongan representative giving a report and presentation on conditions in Fiji after a fact- finding mission there late last year.

Australia and New Zealand, both vocal critics of Fiji's failure to restore democratic rule, voiced anger at the news Commodore Bainimarama would not be attending this meeting.

Fiji's membership of the forum is one possible sanction up for discussion given Commodore Bainimarama's broken promises on a timetable to restore democracy after his December 2006 coup.

Commodore Bainimarama said he could not attend the meeting because he was needed to lead relief work after recent floods in Fiji that killed at least 11 people. He called for the meeting to be deferred.

A PNG prime minister's office source said a group of leaders would travel to Fiji around February 14 to meet Commodore Bainimarama and discuss what outcomes were reached at the Port Moresby talks.

Mr Rudd had planned to spend the next week in meetings with advisers, officials and business and industry leaders formulating the next steps in the Government's rescue plan for Australian jobs and the economy as the global financial crisis intensifies. AAP