Six years, 72 months, more than two thousand days. It’s been a long silence but Grubsheet is back. After six years, I am rejoining the national debate in Fiji by relaunching the blog I began writing almost 12 years ago. This first article since the hiatus is unashamedly personal and some may regard it as self-indulgent. It is unquestionably direct … [Read more...] about # AS I WAS SAYING…
# COMING SOON
Small islands under existential threat. Grubsheet returns from a six year hiatus with new information and insights as Fiji and the rest of the region reels from the unprecedented challenges of Covid-19, economic disintegration, poor governance, big power plays and threats to our climate and oceans. We’ll be fighting the secrecy, spin and fear of … [Read more...] about # COMING SOON
# THE NEW DEMOCRACY BEGINS
Well, he's done it. Voreqe Bainimarama has seized his place in history by blitzing his opponents and scoring a decisive win in the first genuinely democratic election in Fiji since Independence 44 years ago. By any standard, it is a remarkable achievement. Because this is no run-of-the-mill election win of the kind the world routinely witnesses, a … [Read more...] about # THE NEW DEMOCRACY BEGINS
# A MELANESIAN MINEFIELD
Foreign Ministers of the Melanesian Spearhead Group are set to tip-toe through a diplomatic minefield with news that a MSG delegation - led by Fiji's Ratu Inoke Kubuabola - will make its long-awaited visit to the Indonesian province of West Papua this week. The mission is fraught with potential difficulty and will require all the diplomatic skills … [Read more...] about # A MELANESIAN MINEFIELD
# SPLUTTERINGS FROM THE EDGE
The bellowing Canadian Moose, Dr Marc Edge, has spluttered back into life after a period of self-imposed hibernation with yet another of his perennial attacks on Grubsheet and our fellow blogger, Professor Crosbie Walsh. The former Head of Journalism at USP - who was sacked for misconduct - claims that Croz and I have gone quiet because we have … [Read more...] about # SPLUTTERINGS FROM THE EDGE
# DOUG BROWN – A TRIBUTE
One of the last links to the Government that took Fiji to Independence 43 years ago has been severed with the death in Australia of Douglas Walkden-Brown - a member of Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara’s cabinet both before and after Independence. The highly respected agriculturalist known more informally in Fiji as Doug Brown passed away peacefully last … [Read more...] about # DOUG BROWN – A TRIBUTE