■ Cogito, ergo sum. I think, therefore I am. (René Descartes, mathematician and philosopher,1599-1650)
(o+) Croz's Live Interview by Radio NZ National
I was interviewed live by Bryan Crump on Radio NZ National on Wednesday evening. I spoke mainly on what the Fiji Government has done and is trying to do, and what I think the Government, its opponents in Fiji and the Australian and New Zealand governments need to do to kick start dialogue. A lot of ground was covered in the 17 minutes. To listen, click on this link to this programme, and let me know what you think.Thanks, Laminar_Flow for the link. Laminar's blog is Stuck in Fiji M.U.D. See Links to Moderate Blogs. Scroll down in the lefthand column. Six comments so far.
P.S. The link now provided works. You download in Windows Media Player. Sorry for the inconvenience.
13 comments:
Bryan Crump is a chump. His whole demeanour towards you is defensive and screams sceptic. Obviously one of those Barbara Deaver loving, "pro-democracy" types. The problem, Croz, is that you've become a very dangerous person. You're starting to infect the NZ body politic with your heresy on Fiji. And as much as I personally love your work, were I to be running the country, you'd be up at the military camp doing a few laps of the oval before copping a tirade of abuse.
Hey croz,
The link in your post (for your interview) does not work.
This is the MP3 url for the RNZ interview.
The interviewer was a cynic.
Indeed there was a lot of ground covered, but the issue of China increasing their Pacific footprint was a geo-political topic that really was glossed over and not thrashed out much.
You did tip your hand about having a soft spot for NZ; over China's influence. But that may be your Kiwi bias.
Where the rubber meets the road, neither you or the NZ Govt have any bragging rights over the Pacific region. It was never New Zealand's or Australia's stomping grounds in the first place.
Thanks for the brief and skimpiest mention of SiFM in your Auckland presentation.
It will be hard for many people to say that the present government is ok because of how it began .. even if they are doing better than the "past" or rather, doing something good.
Because of the mind set that all governments must be elected by the people - whether they are doing well or not, the military govt will be shot down even if they give free bus fares, food vouchers and free housing. I can just hear the people shaking their heads from afar and saying ... Nah Nah Nah even if you gave everybody a job and pull people out of poverty we still don't like you.
Strewth ...
That was an excellent interview. I think Brian Crump was also very good. Compared to most media out there at the moment he really gave you a good opportunity to give your opinions and did listen to what you were saying. One initiative you forgot to mention was Frank's effort to remove corruption. Establishing an independent corruption unit and things like the spectrum decree, which was implemented to clean up past corrupt practices.
Yes Aust and NZ are overly focused on how this government began, which was not ideal. However was there any other way? Aust/NZ governments and the media have to understand that the previous system was also unacceptable and it is pointless to just return to immediate elections. A new system needs to be put in place. This cannot be done overnight, but would be faster if Aust/NZ instead worked with the interim government. They could take up the role of mediator or even a guiding role to a real democracy. One point you briefly mentioned was that Aust/NZ regularly deal with non-democratic governments around the work, who’s actions are far worse than anything Frank's government has done.
Really, Frank’s actions so far are far from someone who has done this just to be in power and for personal gain. Why go through the effort he has done on such things like the Charter, spectrum decree etc? There are much easier ways if he all he intends is to remain a dictator.
Anon #1
To Bryan Crump's defence: I have no complaints. I thought he handled the interview well; he allowed me to talk; and rang me back afterwards to discuss the interview further. If only we had more interviewers like him. Which military camp would I be at? Surely not QEB.
Laminar_Flow. Thanks. Take your point on China. Sorry not to mention SIFM more in AKL but I had to rush everything into 20 minutes.
Strewth. Agree, but I think we should be past how the Government came to power,and now focus on what next.
M.J.: Agree totally. Your turn for the next interview!
Yes, as MJ says, an excellent interview. Perhaps more could have been made of the travel sanctions and the way they discourage broader participation in government, but you certainly covered it.
It remains totally puzzling to me that seemingly sensible, intelligent people in our Foreign Ministry and our government, continue with such a limited and one eyed view of a country and people who have always been our friends, and whose soldiers have fought alongside ours. I can imagine there was a fair bit of pique here when the Wellington talks failed to prevent the coup of 2006, but three years after? Where is our sense of perspective, our breadth of thought, and our desire for fair play?
And thanks to laminar flow for the link. Peter
Listened to your interview-very comprehensive and persuasive.
I couldn't post a comment as I don't have a Google account. However there is a matter that might fit into your future interviews. The 1997 Constitution and the elections under it were not democratic. It always needs to be pointed out that the President, the GCC, and the Senate were not elected. Members of the lower house were elected not just mainly on racially defined electorates, but on grossly malapportioned electorates biased towards rural areas. An urban vote was worth considerably less than an urban vote, by factors of 5 and more.
Keep up the good work.
S.
Croz, it's anon one here. No, not the QEB. In Fiji you're more likely to be staying at Government House after being feted at a state reception. No, I meant the Kiwis would take you to their camp to beat your heresy out of you, like that desolate and forbidding one at Waiouru which one passes when traveling down the North Island.
Pay heed to the remarks of the Ambassador of Japan to Fiji. It is he who has taken a position which is commendable, useful, productive and sensible. Yes, small improvements to daily life are of the utmost importance. We are living in a nation which has been 'taken apart'. But this gutting of a state has been years in the making. Where were New Zaland and Australia when this was underway? How was it conceivable that they allowed and cosied up to such follies of human conduct? Allowed for two elections which were blatantly (not incompetently/negligently) rigged without comment even? The Qarase Governments were an abuse of power in all respects including the last ridiculous Cabinet of thirty-six Ministers appointed without reference to sustainability or to competence. And still the Orchestra Played On down South of us. This was more than heresy!
"The poll results in Croz's presentation on the Fiji Blogs was interesting in that was largely based on I taukei bloggers opinion and showed massive support for the Peoples Charter and the ideas related to it sush as non-racial electoral system, etc.This not only confirms similar results of the FijiLive Pollhe reported earlier but also the national Poll conducted by the NCBBF last year that was dismissed as invalid and fraudulent by many opponents including the Fiji news media and the Australian and NZ diplomatic elite. These Blog polls may be weakly based but they were independent and could not be accused of fixing their results. Important questions that these Blog Polls failed to ask was whether the respondents thought that the regime is handling implementation of the PCCPP in a manner consistent with the principles and spirit of the Peoples Charter. Croz’s did not ask more questions related to the kind of roadmap to election the respondents want. It seems even the LQ crowd seem to grudgingly accept that communal electorate is now a minority obsession."
Dee.
Good work Croz!! It i sgood to get the other side of the story on Fiji out there!! We just need to be patient and keep on telling people both side of the story on Fiji. So called democratic elections with many flaws, with corruption, racism, waste of resources, vote rigging etc needed to be changed.
Fiji is on the improve and Croz you are getting the word out!! Pls keep it up!!
I have also just returned from a holiday in Fiji and there are thousands of visitors there. I was told that although things are not back to normal from a tourism perspective it has improved a lot since June/July 2009.
I also noticed there were record numbers of holidaying ex Fijians (Indian, Taukei/ Europoeans etc)
Fiji was more 'normal' than i realised. Sometimes reading the web/blogs etc means we have not appreciated what is happeing on the ground
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