(o) Former NZ Diplomat and ...

... chairperson of the NZ chapter of Transparency International Gerald McGhie had a short article "Fiji's Gordian Knot" (although it covered Pacific-wide issues) in this week's NZ Listener. The issues raised were poor governance ("weak governance has made a number of Pacific power brokers very rich. Strong institutions would disrupt the flow of easy money."); corruption ("the most serious threat to future stability and development"), and New Zealand's need to understand the Pacific ("sometimes a strident tone has crept into NZ's Pacific statements ... [we need] a NZ voice that reflects an understanding of Pacific realities rather than the agenda of other countries... Our task is to take a lead. This will require intelligent diplomacy"). On the Fiji situation: "Unless there is a radical shift in the voting process, further elections will .. fail to make any headway." [A question for the NZ Listener: Doesn't the commissioned painting of the Fijian soldier in full battledress that accompanied the article run counter to McGhie's message to New Zealand? Or was it commissioned to fit any article on Fiji?] http://www.listener.co.nz/issue/3589/features/12815/fijis_gordian_knot.html