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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• Pacific Forum
• Trade Agreements
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Pacific Islands Forum Meeting-The Cracker In Cairns?

From Island Business, "Letter From Suva"(LFS) column examines the lead up to Pacific Islands Forum meet in Cairns. This meet is expected to be a cracker and already some sparks have been observed, as L.F.S describes the leak of Forum draft report.

FIJI TIME BOMB TICKS FOR FORUM

Laisa Taga - Editor-in-Chief


Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd hosts his first Pacific Islands Forum Leaders meeting in Cairns next month and those in the know expect it to be fiery and fiesty.
And that’s judging from how the June trade ministers meeting in Apia went. Observers who attended the meeting told LETTER FROM SUVA that it was obvious the meeting was split when it came to Fiji and its non inclusion at the trade ministers meeting.

“On one side you had Australia, New Zealand, Samoa and the Cooks and, on the other side, the Melanesian Spearhead Group—PNG, Solomons and Vanuatu—Kiribati and Tonga. Tonga’s PM Dr Feleti Sevele was definitely very vocal about Fiji’s non-inclusion and he was supported by other ministers including PNG’s Sam Abal.

“Most of these ministers were expressing the view that legally Fiji has every right to be at the meeting before chairman, Samoa’s trade minister Misa Telefoni, ruled the issue closed,” a Forum observer said.

“Judging from what was happening there in Apia, there would definitely be fireworks at the leaders meeting if the Fiji issue is not handled properly. It could turn out to be divisive or be a dynamite waiting to explode,” the observer said.

Already the islands are split over Fiji’s suspension by the Forum. A draft report leaked to LETTER FROM SUVA was critical about Fiji’s suspension from the Forum saying it is a major setback for regional co-operation and intergration.

The report was authored by Makurita Baaro, a former senior adviser at the Forum Secretariat (ForumSec). She was hired by the ForumSec to review the three years of implementation of the Pacific Plan.
Forum Leaders had called for an independent comprehensive review of the progress on implementation, every three years. In her report, following extensive consultation meetings totalling over 150 with all Forum members and other stakeholders across the Pacific, Ms Baaro said Fiji’s suspension would pose a major challenge to regional solidarity and the Pacific Plan.

“Already, there are differing views and an increasing polarisation amongst the Forum membership on this very sensitive issue and the subject is one that has real potential to create fragmentation and a major division amongst Forum members.”

She added that Fiji’s suspension will have far reaching and major implications, not only on regional solidarity but also on the implementation of the many initiatives under the Pacific Plan.

The leakage of the report, just a few days after it was presented to the Forum Secretariat, forced the secretariat to launch a major investigation on who leaked the sensitive report. When this edition went to press, the Forum Secretariat was still no way near identifying the culprit, although they have their own suspicions.

But why the witch-hunt? What was so sensitive about the report that ForumSec did not want people to know about? Was it the differing views revealed about Fiji’s suspension by islands countries, which is contradictory to the decision made by the islands leaders in PNG early this year? Was it because the ForumSec was caught out before it had time to censor or tone down the report?

LETTER FROM SUVA understands Ms Baaro was instructed not to include comments on Fiji in her report. But she refused. As a result, ForumSec has now put on hold payment of the rest of her consultancy fees.

Ms Baaro is being paid A$10,000 a month to carry out the review. It was to be a three-month exercise but was extended by a month. So far ForumSec has only paid her A$20,000.
It is not the first time ForumSec has tried to tone down a report. Consultants of an AUSAID review in September last year were also asked to tone down their report but refused, saying it was an independent report and as such they were entitled to their views.
This review was critical of regional organisations and the Pacific Plan, warning that if they don’t shape up and improve their act, they could lose funding from their two major donors—Australia and New Zealand. Both countries poured approximately A$130 million into regional organisations during 2005-2008.

So what now? What version of the Baaro report gets to see the light of day when it is presented to the leaders in Cairns? It will be interesting to see which version finally makes it to the leaders.
Hopefully, the ForumSec will not tone down or censor it that it does not truly reflect the views of the Forum member countries which are coming out loud and clear.

Melanesian Spearhead Group leaders (PNG, Solomons, Vanuatu and Fiji) will meet this month in a special one-day retreat in Port Vila on July 10. Although there is no set agenda, the meeting has been specifically called by the MSG chair, Vanuatu’s Prime Minister Edward Natapei, to discuss concerns about Fiji and its suspension from all Forum organised meetings.

Fiji had issued a statement expressing disappointment about being excluded from the PACER talks held in Apia, Auckland and Port Vila. The exclusion, the statement said, was a violation of its rights.

All MSG leaders have indicated they will attend the Port Vila meeting, where they are also expected to discuss their position at the Cairns meeting.

Fiji’s Bainimarama has been specifically asked by PNG’s Sir Michael Somare to attend the meeting where he will also deliver Fiji’s roadmap to 2014, when it is expected to hold an election.
Bainimarama will be banking on these leaders and on this meeting to push Fiji’s case at the Cairns meeting, after all he won’t be there.

A MSG source said the Port Vila meeting will be interesting. “MSG leaders will be asking themselves – do we consolidate on our position on Fiji, or do we have differing views?

“Meeting chairman Vanuatu’s Natapei and Solomons’ Dr Derek Sikua are likely to gravitate towards Fiji and while Somare, I think, will differ slightly. He is likely to adopt a more cautious stance, reminding the leaders that a decision has already been made and to do otherwise will undermine the intergrity of the Forum and its leaders,” the MSG source said.

“But if the MSG decides to take a stand on Fiji, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands and even Tonga will jump onboard. If this happens, we may come out with the fragmentation of the Forum,” the MSG source said. Another issue that is likely to cause fireworks in Cairns is PACER and particularly how the islands countries were railroaded by Australia into accepting its position.

What then? Australia anticipating fireworks at the Forum meeting, could use its chairmanship to douse the fire by steering clear of regional issues like Fiji and PACER and putting the current global economic crisis centre stage—an issue that affects everyone across the board, relegating regional issues as secondary issues.

Let’s hope the islands leaders will stand up and be counted and stop bending backwards to accommodate others’ interests that run counter to their own.

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Al Jazeera English's/101 East- Dictating [Beta] Democracy in Fiji.

Interesting footage that is generally well balanced, quite intrusive and in depth regarding Fiji's socio-political environment.

Part 1



Part 2.






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Fact Checking The Interpreter: The Reportage Of Fiji's Socio-Political Scene By The Australian Media.

(Above image: Rewan Chief and SDL partisan, Ro Teimumu Kepa outside a Suva Court recently. Image source-Fiji Live)

Croz Walsh's latest posting examines the circumstances regarding the detention of Rewan Paramount chief and the strange bed fellows of Fiji's ethno-nationalistic politics.

The excerpt of the posting by Croz:

Wednesday, July 22, 2009
(o+) Ro Teimumu, Methodist Ministers Being Questioned

Ro Teimumu, paramount chief of the Burebasaga confederacy, former Minister in the ousted SDL-led Government and an outspoken opponent of the Bainimarama Government, and at least four Methodist clergymen, including the controversial Revs Kanailagi and Lasaro, have been taken in for questioning about their rumoured plans to proceed with the Methodist Church's August Annual Conference in Rewa, to be hosted by Ro Teimumu, despite Government's refusal to grant the assembly a permit during the Public Emergency.

Last week the Church broke the conditions of a permit, that required the non-attendance of Revs Laraso and Kanailagi, by holding a standing committee meeting in Suva. It was apparently at this meeting the decision was made to proceed with the Conference, with or without Government permission. The Government position is that Kanailagi and Lasaro (and no doubt others) will use the Conference for political purposes which, in Fiji's present political climate, could threaten public order and national security.

If it is true the church intends to proceed with the Conference -- and my inside sources indicate it is -- this is a very serious development that could bring Church and Government into a head-on collision. I sympathise with the church's position, and the loss of funding the conference cancellation would bring, but there can be no doubt that the Kanailagi/Lasaro mix of religion with extreme Fijian nationalism has been an unhealthy (and, indeed, an unChristian) element of the Church for some time. But whatever the rights and wrongs of the current situation one hopes, for the sake of Fiji, that ways will be found to avert major confrontation before it turns really ugly. Click here for the full Fiji Times article.

Interpreter's Melanesia specialist Jenny-Hayward Jones has got it wrong yet again, along with the biased media reports from ABC. Jones' latest posting, unashamedly uses the talking points of the SDL segment, highlighting the 2 pillars of society, warning of imminent danger to the general public if their dual-pronged influence is permanently removed from the landscape of Fiji politics.

Ironically both pillars were also intimately involved with Fiji's 1987 and 2000 coups and it is rather myopic and repulsively selective for Jones to obfuscate that well documented fact.

A video (posted below)by Journey Man Productions/Foreign Correspondent explores the very scene of Fiji Parliament grounds and studies the various players involved in the 2000 Fiji coup, as well questioning the various motives prompting their action. The 20 minute footage includes a segment showing Rewa Chief, Ro Teimumu Kepa and GCC members visiting George Speight in Parliament for moral support of 'the cause', while the hostages were still being held in-situ.


Watch Ro Teimumu GCC members -Fiji 2000 coup. in News | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com


Edited version of above video (posted below)


Watch Cheifs and Politics in Fiji- A Catalyst For Coup Cycles. in News | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

The proverbial pillars of Fiji's society, which Jones raised in her latest blog posting, was an emotional appeal for incitement. It may have escaped the mind of Jones, that those dual pillars she had highlighted; are so out of touch of reality that their influence on Fiji's populace has dwindled to a such a pathetic degree that, their appeal is actually anachronistic-oblivious to the changing demographics of Fiji's modern society.

Both pillars are no longer load bearing entities in politics, as they once were. Currently both bedfellows flaunt their roles in public, but the actual process of reducing their Chiefly/Religious footprint in Fiji politics would neither dent nor damage, the structural integrity of the progressing nation.

Jones quotes from a hideous Raw Fiji News posting that warns of violence around Suva and Rewa and it is rather not surprising that Jones bases her information on such vile rumour mongering.

The excerpt of RFN post:

Attacks around Rewa-Suva territory predicted
July 22, 2009

Some Fiji based commentators our sources spoke to today have predicted civil unrest in the greater part of Capital Suva, which is within the traditional territory of the imprisoned paramount lady chief, Ro Teimumu Kepa.

They say Suva City is undoubtedly the target area for those who will retaliate towards the detaining of their high chief.

Reports this afternoon reveal that despite the peaceful and prayerful nature of Ro Teimumu Kepa’s response to her uncivilized detention, people must not rule out certain confrontational destructive elements whose patience may have been stretched beyond its elasticity after learning of their chief’s unceremonious jailing.

We can also report that certain Embassies and High Commissions in Suva have issued alert warnings to their staff in the event that unexpected things happen in the middle of the night.

Jones erronously claims that, the lack of protest post 2006 coup was solely due to the dampening influence of the Methodist Church and Chiefs:

The lack of public protest in Fiji since the 2006 coup is usually attributed to the influence of churches and chiefs, who have been reluctant to endorse any protest that might end in violence. But these arrests may prove to be the one decision Fiji society cannot accept from its military leader.

It appears that the Interpreter's Jenny-Hayward Jones is strongly adhering to the talking points of antagonism, which are key words to population stimuli, which the SiFM had highlighted in an earlier post titled "The Audacity of Change-Fiji's Beta Democracy". That post singles out a white paper from Australian Government's Defense Department that mapped out these sensitive political areas in Fiji. Could the Australian media and blogs including 'The Interpreter' be declared guilty of impartiality?

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MSG, Pacific Forum, Global Trade & The American Dream.

From The Interpreter's
Jenny Hayward Jones post:

Is the MSG a threat to Pacific unity?

by Jenny Hayward-Jones - 20 July 2009 9:26AM

The decision by the Melanesian Spearhead Group’s (MSG) leaders on 10 July to lend their support to Fiji’s interim Government, and the backpedalling by leaders since that decision, reveals some interesting insights into how diplomacy works — or does not work — in the Pacific.
The meeting was held at a useful juncture for Bainimarama – a week after he delivered his Strategic Framework for Change speech and three weeks before the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders’ Summit in Cairns, from which he has been excluded. He seized the opportunity to secure endorsement for his agenda from a group of the region’s most influential countries.

The support offered to Bainimarama by the leaders of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu was likely driven by a sense of obligation to Melanesian brotherhood, a desire to assert a Melanesian approach that differed from that of Australia, New Zealand and the Polynesian members of the Forum, and some pandering to domestic constituencies concerned about Fiji’s suspension from the Forum.

If the MSG is to prove it is an effective sub-regional grouping, its leaders should present a clear and united front to the region and demonstrate that Melanesian-style diplomacy offers a better way of dealing with Fiji. The situation in Fiji is such that the region is crying out for creative solutions. Supporting Bainimarama's Strategic Framework for Change, Fiji’s continuing engagement in the PIF and the right to participate in regional trade agreements all telegraphed a strong message to the region about Melanesian solidarity.
But in the week since that message was delivered, Prime Minister Somare has said dialogue with Fiji was 'not an issue for the MSG', confirming that the MSG would ultimately abide by the majority decision on Fiji’s status in the PIF in Cairns. And Vanuatu Prime Minister Edward Natapei has indicated the MSG didn’t necessarily support Bainimarama’s roadmap.

The softening of the MSG’s tone may have been a response to reminders from other PIF members (almost certainly delivered early last week) about the importance of Forum unity. But it does beg questions about the future role and integrity of the MSG. The MSG should be a dominant sub-regional group and should be leading discussion within the Forum on handling Fiji. The members of the MSG (excluding New Caledonia) have a combined population of 8.2 million, GDP of US$12.7 billion and land area of 521,672 sq kms. By contrast, their Polynesian and Micronesian fellow members of the Forum have a combined population of 608,000, GDP of US$1.7 billion and land area of 6,363 sq kms.

The delivery of such contradictory public messages on Fiji within the space of one week, however, is hardly a demonstration of a group capable of challenging the status quo in the region or indeed of an approach that will assist Fiji in 'building commitment and capacity for genuine dialogue consistent with Melanesian values and traditional practices.'
Photo by flickr user Jo Levine, used under a Creative Commons license.

New Zealand Prime Minister, John Key is gearing up for Forum meeting in Cairns. Article originally from New Herald, about the signals being sent to Pacific states.

PM Key sending clear diplomatic signals to Pacific nations

By Online Editor
5:04 pm GMT+12, 20/07/2009, New Zealand

NZ PM John Key

Too much attention to foreign fields can result in a few tantrums back home.
In the Far North last week, Mayor Wayne Brown wrote a truculent column about the attentions Mr Key had given to the Pacific compared to the Far North. Callers to a talkback show grilled him about giving aid to Pacific countries when New Zealand itself was hardly rolling in the money.

A supporter of medicinal cannabis castigated him for "enthusiastically" swigging back "a psychoactive substance called kava" despite rejecting bids to allow the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes at home.
They should get their pens ready again - Mr Key is off in a fortnight to Cairns in Australia for the Pacific Forum leaders' meeting. He will visit Australia again soon after, to meet Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to push for the furtherance of the single economic market goals.Then it is off to Trinidad and Tobago for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. A trip to the United States follows the month after.

By choosing to take over the trip that is traditionally left to the minister of foreign affairs, Mr Key was sending a clear indication that he intends to be no less prominent in foreign affairs than Helen Clark was.
On the face of it, it was a “goodwill” mission. After a decade of Miss Clark, the leaders must have wondered what they were in for. It did not take them long to find out. He has a proclivity for what the media call “Clark would never have done that” moments.
There was a “Clark would never have done that" at the lively nature of Mr Key's delegation, complete with hip hop dancers and former All Blacks.
There was another as Mr Key camped up his dance with Miss Niue and again as he used the word “children” about Fiji and Samoa when commenting on the relative merits of their kava.

“Clark would never have done that,” they muttered after John Key hollered out a joke to them about the king's dog Poobah. It is true that Miss Clark - a polished performer on the international stage and well aware of the gravitas of her role - would never have done the things Mr Key does.
But the difference is deliberate and, for him, it works. He knows he lacks the grounding to emulate Miss Clark, of whom a foreign affairs official only half joked was better placed to brief them to be briefed by them.
His personality is also starkly different. Mr Key has never been risk averse, as long as the risk is calculated. The trip proved that.
The delegation which began looking somewhat like a circus did more than simply cement Mr Key's relationships at a leader to leader level.
The hip-hop crew proved strong ambassadors at a level Mr Key could never have done.

But the leaders of those countries will also have learned that after the dancing is over, Mr Key plays as straight a game as Miss Clark did.
Niue's Toke Talagi in particular learnt not to try to lure Mr Key into a diplomatic game by playing China off against New Zealand in a bid to have aid funding released.
Mr Key called his bluff - telling him to go ahead. Mr Key takes a pragmatic stance on China's incursions with aid money and easy loans into the Pacific.
Rather than rail King Canute-like against it, he has instead publicly said China's increasing role is an inevitable consequence of its efforts to gain wider international influence.
Instead of protesting, he has urged China to work with New Zealand.
His aim is not only to ensure the money is not spent on wasted efforts, but to allow New Zealand to see exactly where it is spent.
However, he has also sent the clear message to those island countries that they deal with China at their own risk, that New Zealand will not step in to bail them out if it goes awry.
Behind the doors, Mr Key was also trying to shore up support for centring the Pacific Forum agenda next month on them and the economic downturn - not Fiji.
The Pacific Islands Forum has often been criticised as of negligible value, a grouping that talks a lot but does little.
Such outcomes are anathema to Mr Key, and so his reconnaissance trip was more about trying to ensure something concrete emerges when the leaders meet next week.
What he wants when he flies into Cairns is allies to help staunch talk of allowing Fiji to rejoin the forum.

What he wants when he flies out of Cairns is to be carrying a communique filled with concrete proposals on measures to help the Pacific Islands in the recession.
So as soon as Mr Key returned from his trip, Murray McCully went on his own - to Kiribati and Tuvalu, as well as follow-up visits to Tonga and Samoa.
Duncan Kerr, the Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Islands Affairs, was simultaneously roaming the Pacific, peddling much the same message Mr Key - tend to your own lands in a time of trial, not Fiji.
What Mr Key got out of the trip was some surety that the other leaders would largely be singing from the same song sheet.
What the Pacific leaders got out of it was some reassurance that Mr Key would not neglect their interests - and the chance to make it just that little bit more difficult for him to make decisions based solely on bottom lines.
The difference in New Zealand's relations with the Pacific and the wider world was spelled out in an uncharacteristically sentimental paragraph in a Cabinet paper on the Pacific Agreement for Closer Economic Relations.
“In every other context, trade policy starts by putting the interest of New Zealand exporters first and aggressively so. In the Pacific, it is different.
“Here, our policy approach should start by putting our political, people to people relationships first. In some cases - Tonga, Samoa, the Cooks, for example - they are part of us.”

A day in each country was not long. But it was long enough for Mr Key to learn the truth of that. John Key emerged from his trip knowing he got on famously with the King of Tonga, albeit perhaps with a slight headache after being plied with champagne at 11am and then two hours of pre-dinner drinks later in the day for a dinner that went well past the scheduled 10pm end.

Samoa also won a little of his heart, especially the village of Poutasi, where he was met by the village men proudly wearing New Zealand themed T-shirts as a tacit "thanks" for the seasonal labour scheme.
After just one hour in the village, they were offering him a chiefly title and he was waxing lyrical about the conch shell blowing at 6pm for prayers each day and 10pm bedtime rule. Miss Clark's greatest gift to Mr Key is in the area of foreign affairs where she drove home the importance of assiduously built connections and Zealand's reputation as an honest broker.
He knows he cannot out-Clark her - but nor does he plan to squander what she has bequeathed him.

• Claire Trevett is a political writer for The New Zealand Herald.

SOURCE: NZ HERALD/PACNEWS

Trans-Tasman leverage against MSG countries appears to be eroding like a sand castle on Bondi. As the post by Interpreter alludes to, the MSG decision to back Fiji was recognized as a constructive engagement that could undermine the very credibility of the forum.

Lately, the definition of decisions conveniently stamped with "manufactured consensus" in Forum communiques seems to be attracting clouds of doubts. Subjectively, those decision were made with Pacific Island representatives, wholly omitted from the negotiating table.

These warnings have been heard before. Some from a former and ousted Pacific Forum's Director of Economic Governance, Dr. Roman Grynberg; who dispatched an open letter to PNG Prime Minister and MSG Leaders prior to their recent meet.

Such advice. which was undoubtedly crucial and persuasive to the outcome. Melanesia Spearhead Group (MSG) represents a regional sub-bloc of island states in the region-with more population, mineral and fossil fuel resources.

Dr. Grynberg's letter was published in Pac News website.

The excerpt:

Open Letter from Dr Grynberg's to PNG Prime Minister and MSG Leaders

By Online Editor
1:38 pm GMT+12, 10/07/2009, Fiji

Dr Roman Grynberg is the former Director of Economic Governance at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat

Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare
I am writing this public letter to you and the other MSG leaders in the hope that the troubling recent developments in regard to the future PACER Plus Agreement with Australia and New Zealand can be addressed at the up-coming MSG Leaders Summit.
There can be little doubt that the PACER Plus agreement, if properly negotiated, will be of enormous benefit to the people of Papua New Guinea as well as all the peoples of Melanesia and the wider Pacific islands region. However, the lead up to these negotiations has shown that the reality is likely to fall far short of the potential because of the excessive haste that has been shown by Australia and New Zealand in pushing the Pacific Island Countries into negotiations when they are simply not ready to do so given that they remain involved in highly complex negotiations with the EU.

The Pacific island nations have not had sufficient time to either consult adequately with national stakeholders or to undertake genuinely neutral and scientific analysis of what type of future trade arrangement would be in their interests. The arrangements for future negotiations that have been reported in the media following the Apia meeting of Forum Trade Ministers are very disturbing and will almost certainly leave the PNG, as well as Melanesian countries and the wider Pacific islands without sufficient capacity to negotiate.

A significant issue in all of this has been the exclusion of Fiji from the negotiations. While I am deeply supportive of the democratic process and the Forum efforts to promote democracy the current situation will mean that the entire people of Fiji will be penalized by their exclusion from PACER through events not of their own making. Moreover, once democracy returns to Fiji there can be little doubt that a future democratic government will have little choice but to accept the terms of an agreement that will have been negotiated without its participation.

The arrangements being developed require complete ownership of the negotiating process by the Pacific islands. It is for this reason that I write to you to call on you and other MSG leaders to remove the negotiating process from the Pacific Islands Forum altogether and move it to the Melanesian Spearhead Group Secretariat. I also call upon you to assure the rights of the people of Fiji are protected and that their voice can be actively heard at the trade negotiations.

In order to assure that a neutral negotiation occurred the small island states should also be invited to participate in an MSG based negotiation. While I recognize the direct financial cost of such an action the PACER plus treaty is so important to an entire generation of young Papua New Guineans, Melanesians and Pacific Islanders that it cannot be handled by institutions which are so thoroughly dominated by Australian and New Zealand interests. Only the MSG has the neutrality to manage this process.

I know that PNG and other Melanesian countries jealously and rightly guard their sovereignty. To sacrifice this sovereignty on such an important matter as your future economic relations with your neighbors and to potentially end up with a treaty that is not in your interests would be the sacrifice of your sovereignty for which you fought.

Sir, you are the last remaining father of the Forum. Your vision in creating the Forum was grand but in certain matters such as these the Pacific Islands simply cannot leave such important negotiations to institutions dominated by the interests of Australia and New Zealand.

Yours sincerely
Dr Roman Grynberg


Dr Roman Grynberg is the former Director of Economic Governance at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.

As growth seems to be among the crucial factors for economic growth. In light of the current global economic climate, and the ripple effects to the world in general. The aspect of the American Dream was addressed and how that image of consumerism inadvertently contributed to the global financial malaise.

This discussion of trade, growth, consumerism and global trade was featured in an American Radio Works documentary and the growing doubt about the entire system of trade, banking, regulation and government.

Description:

The "American dream" has powered the hopes and aspirations of Americans for generations. It began as a plain but revolutionary notion: each person has the right to pursue happiness, and the freedom to strive for a better life through hard work and fair ambition. But over time, this dream has come to represent a set of expectations about owning things and making money. So what exactly is the American dream? How did we come to define it? And is it changing?

From Croz Walsh's blog: (o) Media RoundUp; Bloggers Rodeo

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Mere McCutchan's Parrot
There's something unreal about recent reports from Fiji, as the mainstream media, limited by Government censorship, continue to publish mainly inconsequential non-news articles in protest against media restrictions, or in place of the articles they'd like to write. Take, for example, the front-page feature in yesterday's on line Fiji Times --- Mere McCutcheon's parrot. "Mere McCutchan had just awoken and was preparing breakfast yesterday when she heard something outside ......"

True, the paper did have a small feature on shops and businesses returning to normal business hours (highlighted by Fiji Village) and on a possible apology to former Methodist Church president Rev. Josateki Koroi,* but these serious items were accompanied by another non-news item, "Full House for Harry Potter."

Fiji Village had more "news" coverage with items on the business hours (the emergency regulations being lifted on businesses), swine flu, a police enquiry into sorcery, and Qarase's appeal to leave the country again, which is opposed by FICAC (the Corruption Commission, because the Qarase case is pending). The Fiji Daily Post turned media restriction into media opportunity with a fascinating story of the Taunova Bay Resort manager's plans to put 1,000 acres to agricultural use (this is well worth reading), and the Fiji Sun did likewise with a feature on $3m being pumped into ailing Labasa. On balance, with so many non-news stories, readers would think little is happening in Fiji, but in this they'd be wrong if anti-government blogs located outside the country are any guide.

Bloggers' Rodeo:Jump on for the Ride
Most of these blogs republish each other's postings but over the past week all have been publishing items of alleged unrest in the military. It is impossible to know whether the items have any substance or whether they are published (and republished) as part of a campaign to confuse and destabilise -- or both, with the blog stories feeding the unrest.

Last week CoupFourpointfive reported Bainimarama had suspended Land Force Commander Pita Driti and Commanding officer of the 3rd Infantry Regiment Ratu Tevita Uluilakeba Mara. But on Monday the story was that it was Driti and Ratu Tevita telling Bainimarama to step down, and yesterday (Wednesday) it's back to Bainimarama telling Driti and Ratu Tevita again. Yet both officers were reported taking morning tea on Monday at the barracks and neither has made a public statement. To keep the pot boiling, the blogs also reported tension "within the ranks" over Bainimarama's cancellation of the Methodist Conference, saying "inside sources" said the Conference will go ahead despite the cancellation.

If these confusing accounts were not enough, at 1:20pm on Tuesday the blog FijiCoup2006, run by Sai Lealea, formerly of the NZ Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs in Wellington, published an item headed "Change in Fiji Military Leadership Underway Now." But then mysteriously the post was removed, with no explanation offered. Was someone pulling Sai's leg or did the change become unstuck?

It really is very difficult to know what's going on. There may well be some truth in the blog stories but I wish the blogs, and the generally more reasoned Coupfourpointfive in particular, would make more effort to check their sources, or a least give some indication of probable reliability. As long as the Government (in my opinion, unwisely) continues to censor the media, bloggers are too important a source of information to be ignored by readers who may find too many of their stories unreliable or unfounded. Photo Fiji Times.

*Rev. Koroi was forceably deposed for his opposition to the "pro-Fijian" 1987 Coup by Rev. Manasa Lasaro who actively supported all the Coups before the last one. It is Lasaro's and Rev. Tomasi Kanailagi's rabid ethno-nationalist politics that Bainimarama wants removed from the Church. If they had resigned, Bainimarama would have had no obvious reason to cancel the Methodist Church Conference. One presumes their failure to do so is a political statement.

Whale Oil Beef Hooked: Guilty of nothing more than being helpful to his constituents

Whale Oil Beef Hooked: Guilty of nothing more than being helpful to his constituents


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