(+) Surely it is Time New Zealand

Letter to the NZ Listener December 5-11 2009

Surely it is time New Zealand discarded its pith-helmet and swagger-stick treatment of Fiji ("we know what is best for you") so typical last century of Britain's attitude to some of its former African colonies. Our imitation of this was first obvious under Prime Minister David Lange, who regularly used a friendly commentator to go straight from his office to relay on RNZ's international news service the policy he was demanding Fiji follow. Helen Clark's administration followed by constantly demonising  Fiji's self-appointed leader, Frank Bainimarama, whose responses, blunt and clumsy, were entirely predictable.  She imposed punitive measures on some classes of Fiji citizens, sought to undermine its tourist industry by telling us not to holiday there, successfully sought its expulsion and the imposition of sanctions from Commonwealth and Pacific bodies and referred to weapons of economic destruction that could drizzle down upon it from the United Nations.

Just what harm Fiji has even done New Zealand? Sometimes beating us at sevens rugby?  Preaching the values of democracy is one thing, but seeking to impose them on another small country with our own dubiously lilly-white hands only adds to the mess already produced.

Prime Minister John Key, credited with a useful intuition in assessing needed policy changes, has missed a beat in deciding to go along the pooh-bah path of his predecessors. He should be following the example of President Obama, who has distanced himself from the failing foreign policies of the Bush administration.  Instead of abusing Iran as a nuclear threat to world peace, Obama addressed that country with respect.  Instead of treating Cuba as a pariah communist nation, he promptly dispensed with long-standing travel restrictions and took the first step towards open-hearted engagement. At one Latin American conference, on meeting strongman President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, an abusive critic of the US, Obama smiled broadly and shook his hand.

And, yes, he has also said he is not in favour of "forcibly exporting democracy."

Ian Cross (Paraparaumu)