Driving The Samoans Up the Wall.

Courtesy of Croz Walsh blog regarding Samoan PM's recent comments about an invitation to Interim Fiji P.M, Frank Bainimarama, reported by Scoop article.

PM Tuilaepa ‘invites’ Bainimarama to Samoa for dialogue

8:53 August 31, 2009Articles, Fiji, Pacific Headlines, Samoa

By Tupuola Terry Tavita in Apia

Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has suggested possible ways in which to re-engage with the Fiji interim government following the Pacific Islands Forum’s reaffirmation of its membership suspension in Cairns earlier this month.

The Prime Minister says in an interview with the Samoan government newspaper Savali it would be useful for the interim Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama to come to Apia for a talanoa (talk) session with him.

“There are plenty of direct flights between Fiji and Samoa and I would personally invite him over for a chat if he would come,” the Prime Minister said.

“I guarantee his safety and diplomatic immunity,” said Prime Minister Tuilaepa.

“In fact, he’ll be treated in chiefly fashion.”

During such a visit, the Prime Minister said, he would take Bainimarama around the country, giving him an insight into how things are done in Samoa.

“The Samoan traditional systems of government are along similar lines as in Fiji,” said Tuilaepa.

“Fiji’s ratu system and Samoa’s matai system have similar foundations and social underpinnings. The Samoan matai system dates back more than 3000 years and is still vibrant and relevant to this day.

“I want Bainimarama to see for himself whether there are ways that we do things in Samoa that could help resolve the current situation in Fiji.

“Bainimarama may be disenchanted with Fiji’s traditional chiefs, but the matai like the ratu of Fiji are by culture and by virtue the decision-makers of the people. It’s a system you have to work with and improve, not work against.

“I’ve also been told that Bainimarama has some Samoan connection … so this is perhaps an ideal opportunity for him to get in touch with his roots here. Who knows, he may want to be bestowed a Samoan chiefly title.”

For instance, there was the Tuilaepa title in Samoa, the Prime Minister said, which compares to the Tuilakepa title of Tonga and the Tui of the Lakemba Islands in Fiji. This was one possibility, the Prime Minister said.

Such a visit, he added, would also allow the commodore to observe Samoa’s modern government, and governance practices.

“We have a lot of opposition here. A lot of newspapers who often publish nonsense about government and government policy. Our media also think that I say similar things about them. But we get along fine. We talk, we smile at each other and we pray together. No hard feelings.”

A visit to Samoa by the Fiji interim Prime Minister, Tuilaepa said, would also be an indication that dialogue and lines of communication between the region and the global community with the Fiji interim government were still open.

“Fiji is not being abandoned nor cast adrift. It’s up to the commodore if he wants to engage in dialogue.”

The Prime Minister said that he has some understanding of the motives behind the 2006 coup, but the fact is, no democratic system of government in any country is perfect. It is why, he said, all democratically-elected governments have proactive systems of controls, checks and balances.

Tuilaepa concedes that democracy has its faults. However, he said, “until a better system is developed, democracy is still the most representative, most transparent system of government available.”

“If Bainimarama is sincere in his good intentions and hope for his people, then he should swiftly return Fiji to democracy. He should immediately stop suppressing the media, immediately cease suppressing people’s right to free speech and freedom of opinion and stop interfering with the church and people’s rights to religion and worship. He should also immediately refrain from interfering with the judiciary and justice system. These are the very pillars of democracy.”

The longer Bainimarama forcefully stayed in office, Tuilaepa said, the deeper the economic, social and governance problems would be for Fiji.

“He may have wrested power from the former government to clean up corruption, but governments are human institutions where corruption is inherent in all its forms and manifestations. We are already seeing signs of corruption in his own interim government. The only way to combat corruption is to have in place the appropriate systems of controls, checks and balances that can only be established through acts of Parliament under a democratic government.”

“No aid donor or funding agency in their right minds will throw money at countries ruled by military regimes brought to power via a military coup.”

Prime Minister Tuilaepa admitted that he had a “soft spot” for Fiji as he had had many Fijian friends and colleagues throughout his long political and diplomatic career.

“They are our neighbours and we share a common history, ancestry and culture. If all else fails and Bainimarama refuses to budge, then it might come down to a development none of us in the Pacific would want to see.”

Tupuola Terry Tavita is editor of the Samoan government newspaper Savali.

The issue of Samoan P.M, Tuilaepa's overreaching statements about Fiji has been raised by an earlier SiFM post. As the SiFM post alluded to the domestic opposition facing Tuilaepa and his brain child of changing driving laws from LHS to RHS and the accompanying political firestorm.

Unsurprisingly, Tuilaepa's future may hinge crucially on the outcome of this ill-thought out program for Western Samoa and the lagging financial hidden costs, among legal eventualities-two areas which are seemingly unaccounted for or simply swept under the rug, to cater for this faulty premise.

A Wall Street Journal (WSJ)video outlines the dimensions of the loggerheads regarding the issue of Samoa's change of driving laws effective Sept. 7th 2009. (posted below).





Unfortunately, Tuilaepa's plan sailed through the "democratic elected" Parliament of nobles, undoubtedly with some Trans-Tasman acquiescence and horse trading. The concept of plan B was supposed to supplement the PACER Plus revenues, based on the assumption that, the global economy was to remain steadfast or grow more based on consumer demand.

Realistically the free trade negotiations with South Pacific island nations, was founded on a sweet heart deal, signed sealed and delivered. Today, neither holds true-not the lofty financial spreadsheets using flawed data, nor the veneer of democracy using erroneous computational models generated by Wall Street, with the collusion of US Congress.

Apparently, Fiji derailed that pie-in-the-sky free trade negotiations, and the very concept is now facing sterner resistance by island states among others, recognizing the dangers of unfettered imports and the blantant absence of checks and balances.

Now that plan B is now plan A, since the PACER Plus negotiations is basically on ice in some quasi government official/private consultant's office. That outcome was projected considering the Melanesian Spearhead Group's (MSG) recent public positions, subsequent to their meet in Suva, according to a Solomon Star article.

The excerpt of the article:

Home News-National

MSG: Include Fiji in PACER-Plus

Wednesday, 26 August 2009

MELANESIAN Spearhead Group country members agree that Fiji should be included in PACER-Plus trade negotiations.

Ahead of the Melanesian Spearhead Group Foreign Ministers meeting in Suva yesterday, country members said Fiji should be included despite its suspension from the Pacific Islands Forum.

Speaking on behalf of the MSG last night, Papua New Guinea’s Rima Ravusiro, who is the secretary, said it was part of their Vanuatu, PNG and Solomon communiqué before the Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Cairns last month.

“MSG leaders believe Fiji should be part of the PACER-Plus discussion taking into account their legal opinion,” Mr Ravusiro said.

Fiji was suspended from the Forum in March for not meeting a forum deadline on holding elections.

It was than excluded from negotiations on the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER)-Plus.

However, Mr Ravusiro said there had been positive development shown by Australia and New Zealand with regards to their stand against Fiji.

“At least there has been some improvement shown after they considered Fiji to be part of the negotiation on the two regional trade agreements,” Mr Ravusiro said.

Fiji said it has every legal right to be part of the negotiations meetings and that its role in such trade agreements is separate to its Forum status.

Australia, New Zealand and Samoa have led the push to exclude Fiji from negotiations despite criticism of this.

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From Indian Newslink- Quo Vadis Fiji?

Quo Vadis Fiji?

01/09/2009 23:07:00

Indian Newslink

Editorial

One of the most astounding aspects of Fiji and her people is their resilience on the face of adversity and international ire and even apathy. While the onset of the military regime on December 5, 2006 following the overthrow of the Laisenia Qarase Government sent a gamut of emotions in many parts of the world, it was amazing to observe the country carrying on its activities with incredible normalcy.

A visit to Fiji was a journey of revelations, of how people are oblivious to the current military rule and how they go about their daily lives with ambition and without fear. Government offices operate as any other and if anything, with efficiency and promptness that was hardly the norm in the recent past. Corruption, which was endemic even at the higher echelons of public service, is largely absent, although the process of cleansing was evident at all levels.

Crime appears to have somewhat ebbed as retailers and owners of the ubiquitous convenience stores say that they never felt safer. Contrary to what has been portrayed in some sections of the international media, courts continue to hear cases and hand out verdicts as they did prior to the latest coup.

Commercial banks, all of them foreign owned, continue to mark their presence accepting deposits, operating schemes to attract customers and providing loans and advances to institutions and individuals. Almost all of them account for expatriates in their top management. As a senior manager, who is completing his three-year tour of duty this month, said, “I am likely to be transferred to Auckland. I would have preferred to stay in Fiji longer. It is much better here.”

Democratic obsession

Businesses are optimistic of the future and as many have said, “Coups and upheavals have hardly hindered commercial activity and we take these events in our stride.”

Schools, hospitals and other public utility services carry on their activities without hindrance, save for the flash floods that uproot their lives and property.

What then is the problem? Why is the West so critical of a military regime that apparently has been done better than a democratically elected government in the past? If the people have expressed their will that there should be changes – long needed reforms to rid their country forever of the ‘coup culture,’ why are we in the so-called progressive First World so obsessed with democracy?

Have the people of Fiji (save for a few cronies of Mr Qarase) sought international interference to put their house in order? Is there an outcry of human rights violation (again save for a few opinions here and there) from the common people?

True, there are several challenges that Fiji and its government must address on priority – even on a war footing (pardon the pun). Infrastructure is poor and leaves much to be desired. The government must improve its road network, electricity and other public amenities to encourage economic and social development.

Health services are stated to be in a pathetic state and most people suffering from serious afflictions and diseases are forced to go to New Zealand or Australia for treatment, the cost of which they can ill-afford. Hospitals and public health centres are in need of a revamp and more funding.

While literacy rates are reportedly on the rise, education at the formative levels needs immediate attention. A number of private organisations, including the International Congress of Fiji Indians (ICFI) based in Auckland (which recently donated more than $F 100,000 for distribution to poor children) have been working behind the scenes to help the poor to get on with their studies.

The Government recently announced a number of incentives to attract foreign direct investment and encourage its former residents and citizens (who fled the country in the wake of coups from 1987) to return home and participate in the development process. The reinstatement of the Dual Citizenship Scheme is expected to achieve its objectives as the country’s commercial potential becomes more evident.

Foreign government and foreign media apparently cannot come to terms with the reality that a military regime can be benevolent. Their constant accusation that Commodore Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama had stopped the wheels of democracy to grab power does not seem to wash with the business community, ordinary people and even tourists. While the muzzling of the press is perhaps an argument that may go against the present Interim Government, Mr Bainimarama was of the view that a ‘Free Press is one that also carries with it National Responsibility and not just the licence to report without verification of facts.’

Viewed from any angle, Fiji, its leader, its Government and its people need a chance.

Countries like New Zealand and Australia should take a fresh look at the ground realities and realign their strategies and political approach.

Conciliation and not confrontation is the need of the hour.

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Australia's Foreign/Domestic Policy-Made In Iron Bark?

Banjo Patterson's poem "The Man From Iron Bark" does present a supposition, that is more or less equivalent to Australia's dithering Foreign Policy.

Courtesy of Croz Walsh blog an ABC 'Counter Point' interview with Peter Thompson, a former Fiji diplomat, who labeled Australia's smart sanctions on Fiji, as disastrous.

The interview is posted below on MP3 player.






Not surprising that same cumbersome approach in Australian Foreign policy has chilled relations with China, according to Kuwait Times article.

Australia's own image of being a benevolent defender of Aboriginal rights, has since been reduced to mere rhetoric after the release of the UN Human Rights report by James Anaya, the Special Rapporteur. New Zealand Herald article, tags the Australian treatment of its native population as "abusive".

Excerpt of Reuter's article:

UN critical of Australian Aboriginal intervention

Thu Aug 27, 2009 4:08am EDT

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Australia Aborigines ask U.N. for refugee status
Tuesday, 25 Aug 2009 11:39pm EDT

By James Grubel

CANBERRA (Reuters) - A senior United Nations official condemned on Thursday Australia's controversial intervention into remote Aboriginal communities, describing the measures as discriminatory and finding entrenched racism in Australia.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous People, James Anaya, made the findings after a 12-day visit to Australia, where he visited indigenous communities and held talks with the Australian government.

Australia's former conservative government sent police and troops to remote Aboriginal communities in June 2007, and made special bans on alcohol and pornography, to stamp out widespread child sex abuse fueled by chronic alcoholism.

"These measures overtly discriminate against aboriginal peoples, infringe their right of self-determination and stigmatize already stigmatized communities," Anaya told reporters in Canberra. Anaya, the first UN Rapporteur on Indigenous People to visit Aboriginal communities, congratulated Prime Minister Kevin Rudd for his 2008 parliamentary apology to Australia's Aborigines for historical injustices.

But he said it was clear the entrenched racism of the past remained, and the ongoing intervention into communities in the Northern Territory continued to discriminate against Aborigines.

LIFE EXPECTANCY GAP

Rudd has made indigenous affairs a priority of his government and promised to end the 17-year gap in life expectancy between Aborigines and other Australians.

Rudd has said he would continue the controversial intervention, which has widespread support across Australia but has been strongly criticized by some Aboriginal groups.

Anaya's comments will increase the pressure on Rudd to review parts of the intervention, particularly measures that quarantine welfare payments to make sure a proportion of the payments is spent on food, clothing and healthcare.

An independent review last year found the intervention affected 45,500 Aboriginal men, women and children in more than 500 Northern Territory communities, and progress on healthcare and security were undermined by a lack of full community support.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin said the government was determined to restore laws to outlaw racial discrimination in the Northern Territory and welcomed Anaya's visit.

"I think what's important is that we recognize we have a huge task in front of us to close the gap, to close the life expectancy gap, the employment gap, the gap in education," Macklin told reporters.

"We know how big the task is and we certainly intend to keep getting on with it."

Australia's 460,000 Aborigines make up about 2 percent of the population. They suffer higher rates of unemployment, substance abuse and domestic violence than other Australians.

(Editing by Alex Richardson)

EU Fishing Vessels In South Pacific-Fiji Points Of Origin and Trade Negotiations.

Firm concerned about EU vessels
7/27/2009

A major fishing company is disturbed and disappointed that a number of European Union vessels are using Fiji as an unloading port to allegedly export fish to the EU.

Fiji Fish Marketing Group Limited Chief Executive Officer Grahame Southwick said this has been practiced for the past 18 months. “Fiji has not been reinstated as a market for fresh fish being supplied in the EU market, they have delisted Fiji as a source of fresh fish citing hygiene and other issues,” Mr Southwick said.

“But yet we are somewhat disturbed that vessels belonging to the EU countries continue fishing in the Pacific region.

“They continue to use Fiji as an unloading port to export fish to the EU and at the same time they have prevented Pacific Island countries from exporting fish to their countries,” he said Mr Southwick said it was a ludicrous situation whereby EU vessels were allowed to use Fiji as an unloading transit point and Fiji was not permitted to do so in their countries.

He said as a result Fiji and other Pacific Island countries were forced to sign an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) while Pacific Islands are still banned from exporting fish to the EU.

Mr Southwick said he was informed earlier that relevant authorities such as the Ministry of Fisheries and Foreign Affair were investigating such practices that were carried out.

He said as a result Fiji Fish faced an annual loss of $6 million in gross sales from export following the directives given by the EU. He said indirect affects included the inability to keep the company’s market share and international reputation. He said they had developed an excellent reputation in the EU for supplying quality tuna on a regular basis.

Peter Foster - Whistle Blower Or Snake Oil Salesman?

Peter Foster drops a bomb on Fiji

Thursday, August 20, 2009   

Subhash Appana

 
Peter Foster
Unannounced bombings are known to have changed the course of history.
When Japan sneaked in its attack on Pearl Harbour on December 7, 1941,
WW-II moved to the Pacific as the American giant was forced to wake up
and oblige the Imperial Japanese navy. That tipped the balance in that
war.



Then on August 6, 1945 President Truman directed the ironically named
“Little Boy” to be dropped on Hiroshima. This was followed by the “Fat
Man” on the 9th in Nagasaki to force surrender from a nation that
didn’t know the word. Emperor Hiro Hito was finally allowed to
surrender via a radio broadcast to the fallen nation on 15th August
1945.



On 13th August 2009, a finely parceled long-fused bomb was dropped on
Fiji and Australia by notorious soldier-of-fortune conman, Peter
Foster. The immediate reaction from skeptics and those with darker
concerns would be to dismiss it as the ramblings of a proven and
convicted trickster who has a huge axe to grind because he just served
more than 3 years in a Brisbane jail. Some would also see it as an
attempt by a wily mind to return to Fiji and resume the con-job.



This last point has to do with the fact that Foster has had his eyes on
a strip of Yasawa that he considers paradise on earth. That beachfront
property was leased to a New Zealander when Foster befriended him and
actually got a taste of paradise by living on the Kiwi’s goodwill.



While on paradise, Foster found out that the Kiwi held a Native Land
Trust Board (NLTB) lease that gave the actual landowners only 5% of the
monies involved. He then befriended the landowners and began to educate
them on a new formula that would give them 50% with Foster holding a
controlling interest in the new deal.



The Kiwi friend, who was conveniently forgotten in the process, got
wind of this and started asserting his contractual rights. Peter
retaliated in characteristic fashion and opened up a path of intrigue
that showed all the workings of shady dealings and questionable
decisions that became part of the Qarase government.



That saga remains unresolved and Peter wants to make a comeback –
that’s why he dropped this bomb, some say. That aside, there is no
doubt that Peter was an insider with direct connections to the inner
circle where PM Laisenia Qarase, political strategist and business
consultant Navitalai Naisoro and Qarase’s campaign manager, Jale Baba
plied their power.



Peter therefore, had firsthand knowledge about the workings of the
Qarase government. In his bomb, he has clearly mentioned names, dates
and incidents. And no one has yet talked about suing him for any wrong
doing. This itself should make skeptics take notice. Shooting the
messenger has long been considered the wrong option because it’s the
all-important message that gets ignored in the process.



Perhaps the most famous case of inside revelation by a criminal
involved testimony to a Senate Select Committee by a gangster called
Joseph Valachi in 1963. This was the first authentic insight that the
public had on the workings of the mafia; in fact this was the first
revelation of the very existence of La Cosa Nostra. If Valachi had been
ignored, America would still have pretended to be oblivious of the
existence of the mafia.



Now we have the Foster Bomb and a few of his more intriguing releases
include the fact that there was a clear post-2000 involvement by the
Australian government in Qarase’s reign. PM John Howard even seconded
his own party pollster Mark Textor to Qarase’s office to guide his 2001
campaign despite the fact that he was known to have supported the
Speight coup.



Even more intriguing is the counterfactual that despite the fact that
Police Commissioner Isikia Savua was seen to pretend helplessness on
national TV as looters plundered Suva unchecked, he was posted as
ambassador to the UN by Qarase and there was not even a squeak from
either Australia or NZ.



Foster’s allegation of complicity on the part of A/NZ does get the grey
cells churning when one recalls that it was Australia that seconded cop
Andrew Hughes as Police Commissioner in Fiji. His job was to hound and
bring to justice all the coup plotters of 2000. Yet it took him 7mths
to even interview a key figure who had fled to Australia fearing for
his life in Fiji.



Andrew Hughes was again supposed to have been involved in a plot to
have Bainimarama arrested in NZ when he came for the failed peace talks
with Qarase in Wellington. Last minute cold feet by NZ authorities let
him slip back to Fiji and oust Qarase and his nest of power posers.



The question that begs answering is if this bomb opens up issues of
intrigue leading on to the Bainimarama coup of December 2006, why are
Australia/ NZ pushing for a return to that façade of democracy when
Bainimarama is clearly espousing an attempt to get Fiji truly operating
as a democracy on par with Australia and NZ? Stay tuned for more on the
Foster Bomb.

--

The opinions contained here are Subhash Appana’s own and not
necessarily shared by any organizations that he may be affiliated with,
both here and overseas. ?Email: subhasha@ais.ac.nz

Croz Walsh On Cairns PIF Meeting.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

(-+) Cairns of Worms*

Readers wishing to read the Cairns Forum communique may do so by clicking here. The meeting discussed many issues, including Fiji on which nothing new emerged. Of some interest though, are three paragraphs that clearly indicate where the "leaders" (sic!) were "coming from."

"Para. 45. ...They [the Leaders] took careful note of the grave concerns about the situation in Fiji, as expressed directly to Leaders from respected individuals and organisations in Fiji.

Para. 46. Leaders strongly condemned ... the ongoing erosion to the traditional pillars of Fijian civil society, including the churches and chiefs. They deplored the recent detentions of church Leaders by the regime.

Para. 49. Leaders expressed their deep concern for the people of Fiji in the face of Fiji’s deteriorating economy as a consequence of the military regime’s actions, including the undermining of the private sector and the negative effect on business confidence in the absence of the rule of law.

Para. 50. Leaders called again for political dialogue in Fiji between parties on the principles of genuine, inclusive dialogue without preconditions or pre-determined outcomes. "

Comment

Well now. Having listened to your "respected" sources (and none other); having competed with George Speight to uphold the supposedly "traditional pillars of [ethnic] Fijian civil society" (with no mention, in this context, of democracy, justice or ethnic discrimination); and having blamed the Fiji Government (and none other) for the "deteriorating economy", you seem to expect the Fiji Government to respond positively to your notions of political dialogue.

That's like one hit to the head, another to the heart, a third to the stomach, and then a request for a handshake. When will you start to ask something from the factions that created the conditions that led to the military coup?

* Can of worms: A complex, troublesome situation arising when a decision or action produces considerable subsequent problems." --Wiktionary.

1 comments at 4:01 PM

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ANU's Dr Katerina Teaiwa Finally Speaks- How To Understand Fiji.

Australia National University (ANU) has unleashed its new expert of Fiji socio-politics, other than the well-used and well-worn talking head/historian, Dr. Brij Lal.

Scoop online article dishonestly used a deceptive by-line when describing Dr. Teaiwa's article, using the by-line: "diversity of news" instead of the general understanding that Dr. Teaiwa's article factually alluded to: "diversity of views" as her original article was titled.

The excerpt of Scoop article:

Fiji Future Requires Diversity of News

Tuesday, 11 August 2009, 5:40 pm
Press Release: Australian National University


Pacific analysts must become more creative in their approach to thinking about Fiji and its future, an academic from The Australian National University will argue in Canberra today.

Dr Katerina Teaiwa, Pacific Studies Convenor at ANU, says that solutions for Fiji won’t be found in adversarial thinking, framed around a pro or anti-military viewpoint. She says that more lateral, creative thinking is required to map out a better future for the nation.

“We need more options than just ‘for or against’,” Dr Teaiwa says. “We cannot just roll out a series of economic or political facts which paint the bleak picture we expect to see. We have a responsibility to use these and other contextual knowledge to go further to provide more positive readings that are actually helpful for the people of Fiji as a whole,” she said.

“Anyone who lives in or is from Fiji knows that the situation is not completely hopeless. Fiji requires more diversity amongst, and collaboration between, its experts so that the situation on the ground is illuminated from multiple spheres and through multiple lenses. If we want freedom of speech, democracy and diversity on the ground, we should apply the same principles in terms of the voices and sectors we draw upon to understand the situation.”

Dr Teaiwa argues that there is a need to look more closely at modes of communication, cultural institutions and other sectors which are commonly left out of the dominant political and economic discussions about Fiji.

“The battle around race politics is played out as much in the realm of popular perception as in government policy. Popular perception is shaped not just by NGOs, newspapers, church ministers, business and political party leaders, or military rulers, but by popular culture and what islanders call the ‘coconut wireless’.

“The areas of heritage, sports, cultural policy, festivals, music, and the performing and visual arts require closer examination as they increasingly offer economic and political avenues and tools for Fiji islanders. Most importantly, as indicated by the growing importance of cultural diplomacy internationally, these arenas provide real nuts and bolts for positive nation building, regional harmony, cooperation, and peace.”

Dr Teaiwa will present her research at the 2009 Fiji Update to be held at Parliament House today.

For interviews: Dr Katerina Teaiwa: 02 6125 4323, 0405 150 334

For media assistance: Penny Cox, ANU Media, 02 6125 3549, 0424 016 978

Penny Cox
Communications Officer
Communications and External Liaison Office
Office of the Vice-Chancellor
The Australian National University
T: 02 6125 3549
F: 02 6125 8255
M: 0424 016 978
W: www.anu.edu.au/media

ENDS

Dr. Teaiwa's twitter page.

At least Dr. Teaiwa presents the situation in Fiji, in a different, in-depth, nuanced and well needed perspective on current events in Fiji and the subsequent geo-political outcomes.

(Image source: Dr Katerina Teaiwa. Photo: Stuart Hay, ANU Photography)

The excerpt of Dr. Teaiwa's most recent remarks about Fiji and the necessity for a multi-disciplinary approach in generality, presents a brand new, yet grassroot's objectivity into the recent socio-political events in Fiji.

Fiji future requires diversity of views: Expert

Tuesday 11 August 2009

 Pacific analysts must become more creative in their approach to thinking about Fiji and its future, an academic from The Australian National University argued in Canberra today.

Dr Katerina Teaiwa, Pacific Studies Convenor at ANU, said that solutions for Fiji won’t be found in adversarial thinking, framed around a pro or anti-military viewpoint. She said that more lateral, creative thinking is required to map out a better future for the nation.

“We need more options than just ‘for or against’,” Dr Teaiwa said. “We cannot just roll out a series of economic or political facts which paint the bleak picture we expect to see. We have a responsibility to use these and other contextual knowledge to go further to provide more positive readings that are actually helpful for the people of Fiji as a whole,” she said.

“Anyone who lives in or is from Fiji knows that the situation is not completely hopeless. Fiji requires more diversity amongst, and collaboration between, its experts so that the situation on the ground is illuminated from multiple spheres and through multiple lenses. If we want freedom of speech, democracy and diversity on the ground, we should apply the same principles in terms of the voices and sectors we draw upon to understand the situation.”

Dr Teaiwa argued that there is a need to look more closely at modes of communication, cultural institutions and other sectors which are commonly left out of the dominant political and economic discussions about Fiji.

“The battle around race politics is played out as much in the realm of popular perception as in government policy. Popular perception is shaped not just by NGOs, newspapers, church ministers, business and political party leaders, or military rulers, but by popular culture and what islanders call the ‘coconut wireless’.

“The areas of heritage, sports, cultural policy, festivals, music, and the performing and visual arts require closer examination as they increasingly offer economic and political avenues and tools for Fiji islanders. Most importantly, as indicated by the growing importance of cultural diplomacy internationally, these arenas provide real nuts and bolts for positive nation building, regional harmony, cooperation, and peace.”

Dr Teaiwa presented her research at the 2009 Fiji Update held at Parliament House on Tuesday, 11 August 2009. Filed under: Media Release, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, Pacific
Contacts:

For interviews: Dr Katerina Teaiwa: 02 6125 4323; For media assistance: Penny Cox, ANU Media, 02 6125 3549, 0424 016 978

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Pacnews-Fiji ready to stymie free trade agreement.

Pacnews | Tue, 04/08/2009 - 23:44

Cairns, Australia: Fiji may derail one of Australia’s  key policy objectives at the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders meeting that opens in Cairns today, even though Fiji strongman Commodore Frank Bainimarama will not be present, reports Canberra Times

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and his New Zealand counterpart John Key have been planning to use the Forum meeting to launch a new round of free trade negotiations to build on the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations.

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) the “PACER Plus’” negotiations are intended to produce “a unique agreement, with trade capacity building and trade development assistance to strengthen Pacific island countries' ability to trade”.

The department said PACER Plus would provide a framework for greater trade and economic integration between the countries of the Pacific with consequent benefits for the region and Australian business.

“Australia's primary motivation in supporting PACER Plus is to help the Forum Island countries to promote sustainable economic development. We nonetheless expect that improved market access may enhance some opportunities for Australian exporters, investors and service providers in Pacific markets”

Currently suspended from participation in the Pacific Islands Forum, the Fiji Government wrote to all parties of the PACER Agreement in June indicating that the Forum members were neglecting their obligations to Fiji by not including Fiji in discussions concerning extending PACER to the new free trade agreement PACER Plus. Fiji indicated that any discussions at the Cairns Forum meeting on PACER Plus that excluded Fiji would be invalid.

Commodore Bainimarama’s administration has enlisted the support of the Solomon Islands and other members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu). In mid-July the Spearhead Group issued a communique that read in part that: “Leaders recognised Fiji's right to participate in regional trade and economic cooperation agreements ... The exclusion of Fiji from discussion of these agreements would be invalid and therefore the decisions pertaining to those agreements would be null and void”'

Last week, Solomon Islands Trade Minister William Haomae circulated a letter to all PACER parties, expressing formal support for Fiji's insistence that negotiations could not legitimately proceed without its participation. Fiji has invoked the dispute clause of a 2001 PACER agreement deal, while Australia insists the PACER Plus negotiations are entirely separate.

On 01 May, after the suspension of Fiji's constitution, the Pacific Islands Forum suspended Fiji's membership as it had threatened months before if Fiji had not scheduled elections by that date. The 2009 suspension was the first time a country had been suspended from the Forum in the organisation's 38-year history.

The prospect that progress towards a PACER Plus agreement may be delayed has been welcomed by a number of Pacific unions, churches and civil society groups which have argued the negotiations should not commence until 2013.

The non-government organisations say Australia and New Zealand are using their dominant regional position to push negotiations forward in their own interest and they want an extended delay so the Pacific peoples can be properly consulted about the implications of further trade liberalisation.

Pacific Network on Globalisation  (PANG) coordinator Maureen Penjueli said yesterday Pacific Island countries should “redress the compromises they have been bullied into” by supporting Fiji's call for a moratorium on PACER decisions until Fiji's exclusion was addressed.

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