Australia is set make a dramatic about face in its policy towards Fiji, re-engaging with Frank Bainimarama's regime and assisting it with its plans to return the country to democracy in 2014. After the Grubsheet/Sky News interview with Bainimarama at the weekend - which revealed the extent of Australia's isolation from its ANZUS partners, Australia … [Read more...] about #59 THE ROLLBACK ON FIJI BEGINS
# 58 THE BAINIMARAMA INTERVIEW
( REVISED ON MARCH 7th WITH NEW MATERIAL) Grubsheet's interview with the Fijian leader, Frank Bainimarama, was shown at the weekend in Australia and New Zealand on Sky News and in Fiji in a news special on FBCTV. In it, Bainimarama says Australia is now alone among its ANZUS partners in refusing to engage with Fiji. And he reveals fresh details … [Read more...] about # 58 THE BAINIMARAMA INTERVIEW
# 57 BAINIMARAMA DENIES COUP ATTEMPTS
The Fijian leader, Frank Bainimarama, has strongly denied claims made by two prominent former local journalists - writing in the New Zealand media - that he tried to mount three coups before his successful takeover in December 2006. In two articles in the New Zealand Herald, the Oxford-based academic Victor Lal and Russell Hunter, the former … [Read more...] about # 57 BAINIMARAMA DENIES COUP ATTEMPTS
#56 KEVIN RUDD’S PACIFIC NEGLECT
Frank Bainimarama – Fiji’s prime minister and the current chair of the four-nation Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) – has joined the chorus of criticism of Kevin Rudd in advance of Monday's leadership vote in Australia, accusing him of having neglected the Pacific as foreign minister. He said Canberra’s lack of attention to the region – and … [Read more...] about #56 KEVIN RUDD’S PACIFIC NEGLECT
# 55 PACIFIQUE FRANCAISE
The presence of a French military aircraft over western Fiji surveying the damage from the recent widespread flooding has again highlighted the close ties between France and the government of the Fijian dictator, Frank Bainimarama. In stark contrast with Australia and New Zealand - which have shunned Fiji since Bainimarama's coup in 2006 - France … [Read more...] about # 55 PACIFIQUE FRANCAISE
#54 THE POLITICS OF HATE
Most countries have laws that prevent religious and racial vilification. Most responsible media outlets - including those on the internet - excise comments designed to inflame religious and racial hatred. But sadly not the most prominent of the websites set up to oppose the government of Fiji's prime minister, Frank Bainimarama. That site calls … [Read more...] about #54 THE POLITICS OF HATE