“I think Fiji finally looks like gaining economic traction as well as diplomatic credibility.”
Nevil Gibson. Editor, NZ National Business Review.
For a country that’s always prided itself on its Pacific ties and its knowledge of the region, New Zealand badly misread the situation in Fiji. In common with Australia, it clearly thought it could bring the Bainimarama regime to heel with its hard-line policy of diplomatic isolation and so-called smart sanctions. Yet it’s now having to come to terms with the failure of that policy and the humiliating realisation of NZ impotence on its doorstep.
Certainly, none of it looks especially smart in retrospect when NZ is obliged to sit on the sidelines as Fiji formulates a new constitution and begins registering ordinary voters for its promised election in 2014. Some tentative re-engagement is taking place in terms of assistance with voter registration but the substantive sanctions – such as travel bans on anyone associated with the regime – remain in place. Worse, Wellington and Canberra continue to exclude Fiji from regional forums such as the Pacific Forum and global forums like the Commonwealth. That’s irked their ANZUS partner – the United States -which counted on them to protect their joint stake in the region. The heightened American presence in Fiji and its closer ties with the regime reflect genuine concern that Australian and NZ disengagement has greatly boosted the interests of China – Washington’s global rival.
Rather than fulfill its duty to critically examine government policy and lay out alternatives for the electorate, the NZ media has been the principal cheerleader for the government’s tough stance. Chief among the hardliners have been the New Zealand Herald and Fairfax Media, whose main writer on Fiji, – Michael Field – has been one of the regime’s harshest critics. Dissenters have been ruthlessly sidelined, notably the academic commentators Crosbie Walsh and Professor David Robie, who’ve found their more conciliatory views ignored, even suppressed, by mainstream media outlets.
Yet mercifully, cracks are finally appearing in the “group-think” and “group-speak” of New Zealand Inc. Last Thursday, Nevil Gibson, the editor of New Zealand’s hugely influential National Business Review, broke with the pack with this piece – Fiji says “Bula” to renaissance– that extolled the economic virtues of the Bainimarama regime.
“Since seizing power, the Bainimarama government has run a tight ship that has promoted the benefits of investment and an open economy. This has meant while the regime has faced opposition from Australia and New Zealand – driven by old-school diplomats – the local and foreign business community have remained confident.”
Given the unrelenting negativity of the NZ media for the past five years, Grubsheet couldn’t believe it’s eyes. Could this guy really be suggesting that contrary to the dire predictions of his government of imminent economic collapse in Fiji, the country is actually doing pretty well? Wow, he is!
But within days comes another surprise from another Kiwi exposed to the reality in Fiji – this offering from Stephen Franks, the former ACT Party MP and principal of specialist Wellington law firm Franks and Ogilvie.
“I met no one who wanted the undemocratic chiefly rule back or the demagogic Indian Labour Party. Unprompted, different people told me of their respect for Bainimarama, including an Indian tourist operator, two taxi drivers, two long term expat business people from Europe, several indigenous Fijians, and some Tuvalan Fijians…
They like Bainimarama’s even-handedness among the races, his hostility to corruption, and the relative efficiency of the military governors in their districts. They respect the obstacles he’s faced. Of course they’d prefer freedom and functioning democracy, but they cannot see a way to it. So in the meantime they are grateful that their dictator is benign.
All this raises some questions. Why are accounts like these so glaringly absent from the mainstream NZ media – from Television New Zealand, from Radio NZ and the country’s opinion forming newspapers? Why is the coverage of Fiji so one dimensional, the constant bleat about an immediate return to democracy “because we say so” and with no apparent attempt to understand or explain the reform process that will lead to a fairer democracy?
It’s surely only a matter of time when ordinary New Zealanders wake up to the fact that they’ve been deprived of both the real story and the full story on Fiji. When the lights in what Kiwis like to think of as God’s Own Country finally come on.
This article has subsequently appeared in the Fiji Sun.
It is no secret that compared to its population mix, NZ mainstream media is still very white. NZ Hearald and Dominion do not have any credible Fijians amongst its journalists who could make these blinkered media people see the light. These publications use racial tagging and have sad state of reporting on ethnic and migrant issues and create racial stereotypes. They are really criminal about reporting, or rather not reporting anything positive about Fiji.
Thakur its more than that.New Zealand politicians and leaders treat Fiji and the Pacific with a lot of disdain.Furthermore there is a lot more favouritism shown to Polynesian Island countries when it comes to entry visas and so forth.The NZ government and business just see the Pacific as backwaters and places for money making for their businesses.A case in point is the amount of money they make from visa application fees in Fiji.The way they scrutinise applications and with the kind of questions they ask seem to paint a picture that NZ is the be all perfect country,its easier to get to heaven.
I will later post a submission I made to the acting NZ High Commissioner in 2009.I had given some thought provoking ideas that the she asked me if she could forward it to Wellington.
At last, some semblance of truth being spoken! And wherever you read the words “NZ” in the above stories, just substitute and/or add “Australia”. Our low-life politicians here are just as guilty, as indeed are our media. I know of decent, competent, respected people in Fiji who have been privately bullied, thretatened and intimidated by reps of BOTH governments throughout these Bainimarama years. Benevolent dictator, or corrupt government? I know which one I would choose! Of course, we all want democracy restored in Fiji. It’s a work in progress, and it’s advancing well. NZ and Australia would be better off looking at their own homeland policies on how indigenous people are treated, just for starters!
I believe both the Kiwi and Aussie gameplan on Fiji since 2006 has suffered immensely without the counsel of two of their most astute Pacific diplomatic experts; Greg Urwin and Tia Barrett. Both those gents had strong track records of engagement with Fiji through a range of different crises and with the wider Pacific in general. I cannot help but feel that both countries have lost that ability to understand what was needed on the ground, while being able to make sure that those at the highest levels in both NZ and AU ‘got the memo’. While both countries have lost significant diplomatic influence in Fiji and wider Melanesia in the last 6 years and it hasn’t been helped by aggressive activity from China. What will be very interesting will be to see whether these machinations in Fiji will spread to other members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group. If the next PNG can stabilize the country, Pacific diplomacy is in for a very interesting decade.
Tukaha, you would remember that Tia Barett during the Speight Coup days in 2000 was quite outspoken against the coup and he once said ” that nowhere in the scriptures says that the indigenous race was the blessed or chosen race ” referring to the extremist nationalistic followers and supporters of the cause,whatever it was that George Speight was fighting for.Despite his unpopularity may be to the nationalistic Fijians he remained loyal to his diplomatic calling and was a true statesman.He was a fervent supporter of Indigenous roles in a proper democratic society and nation building.I invited him to the launching of the Fiji Indigenous Business Council and was always supportive of Fijian Indigenous businesses and he expressed his hope to me that some days there could be some links established between FIBC and some Maori Businesses.The region truly felt a great sense of lost in his untimely passing.
While waiting to sign the condolence book for Tia at the New Zealand High Commission in Suva back in 2009 it was a great opportunity for me to make to some observations one of which was confirmed by the receptionist.I did turn those observations into submissions which I made to the then acting high commissioner
I just have to find the time post them here.
The problem with NZ is that with its racists recruitment systems, its Foreign Affairs ivory towers in Wellington still has not got the colour of country in its policy office. Despite so many Fijians of high calibre in NZ, none of them would be recruited in its foreign affairs office. Hence NZ governments are adviced by white bureaucrats in ivory towers in Wellington who still think we wear grass skirts in Fiji. Hence they stand on sidelines as Fiji forges ahead.
I couldn’t agree more with you Thakur.Ideally it would be sensible if the NZ foreign affairs send Maori diplomats to all its missions in the Pacific Islands.But NZ as we all know is still very much a racist country with white supremacists at the pinnacle of its leadership all the time.I challenge John Key and Murray McCulley to deny so and even a debate on this.
Australia and New Zealand are Eurocentric and not much can be done about that.
They only just came out of a period called the “white Australia policy” into a “no blacks policy”, where brown,yellow, pink, not so bad, but black….EEeeek!!!
I have waited out in the sun 11 floors down on the street, also out in the sun and street barred out by a big wall to wait like a dog.
…and I am 6th generation Australian.
Advance Australia fair.
too bad Mongrel,we know what pink you referring to !!