Legacy of Corruption, Bankers and Consumers, Lifting Part of PER, Wainivesi Mine Worth Millions

WEEKEND READING. ♦ Allen Lockinton Column ♦ People's Charter, For Discussion: Pillar 3 and Chapt 8 State of the Nation paper  ♦ The CCF's Suggested Way Forward

N230. AGRICULTURAL SCAMMERS JAILED. Following the Speight Coup and in the year of the 2001 Elections, SDL politicians in the Qarase government, senior civil servants and leading businessmen colluded to use public money for their personal gain and political advantage.  Some were jailed when the Qarase Government was in power; others who should have been were not.

The court case concluding yesterday that saw Suncourt Hardware director (and former Suva mayor) Dhansukh Lal Bhika  and Principal Accounts Officer for the Ministry of Agriculture Suliasi Sorovakatini sentenced to 5 years and 4½ years was the latest in this sick story that had earlier implicated the SDL Minister of Agriculture Apisai Tora and many others in what came to be know as the Agricultural scam.

Some $20 million of taxpayers' money —set aside for the Farming Assistance Scheme aimed at helping ordinary ethnic Fijians (itaukei)— were skimmed off to provide equipment and labour for the farms of the Fiji elite. The Minister, for example, had diggers and tractors prepare his land at  Sabeto costing some $25,000. The Assistant Minister Marieta Rigamoto was given farming implements and chemicals worth around $15,000 for her farm in Navua. Boats and engines, hoes, caneknives and fertilisers were supplied to villagers for political gain. Some $50,000 worth of equipment went to Baulevu where Tora told the villagers this had  never been done before by any government [that's for sure!], and Qarase himself went to Rotuma to distribute $300,000 worth of farming implements.

All this was approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Finance and the "democratically elected government" of Laisenia Qarase.

N231. BANKERS AND CONSUMERS. Following complaints by the Consumer Council, the Reserve Bank has announced that it will now require  commercial banks to publicly disclose any increases in interest rate spreads beyond the previously regulated limit of 4% for any given quarter. In addition to disclosing the actual interest rate spread, the banks will also be required to disclose the specific reasons, including management’s stance and justifications for the increase.

N232. BUYING PAPERS A WASTE OF MONEY: LIFT PART OF PER. This is what one reader wrote on posting N224:

Thanks Croz, Most thinking people would like to see the PER relating to the media lifted.  So many agree with your correspondent that buying newspapers is a worthless exercise.  Only the cartoons and sports section are of value.  Currently there is little or no debate on national issues.
 
I would be interested to know from someone with insider information of Government who is opposed to lifting the PER, and who may support a partial lift.

N233. MINING: PART OF THE FUTURE.  On Tuesday Government received its first cheque for royalty payments and export taxes from Fiji’s second operating mine in Wainivesi, Waimaro in Tailevu. The Wainivesi mine produces copper, lead, zinc, silver and  gold and is expected to deliver more than $72m in tax and royalties — and spend more than $150m locally on operation and reinvestment in Fiji, during the next four years. The mine has an expected 20-year life.

The Wainivesi area was first explored in the 1930s and the mine opened briefly but was closed in 1955 due in part to to environmental problems.Exploration area resumed in 1999 and the present mine construction began four years ago and is still expanding. The company has already invested more than F$65m in its development. -- Based on No.0633/MOI.

A mining symposium to be held next month will be the first ever for Fiji with all mining stakeholders making presentations on mining issues.

The Queen, DVD Disk, Amnesty International NZ, Radio NZ International

WEEKEND READING.  ♦ Allen Lockington Column  ♦ Fiji 2011: Critical Engagement and Future Scanarios (Part I) by Akuila Yabaki  
♦ Discussion on Pillar 1 of the People's Charter  ♦ Rotuma Tuvalu Trade

DAYLIGHT SAVING. Fiji loses an hour of daylight (when some say it couldn't need it more) this Sunday morning.  Readers in Fiji, remember to put your clock back from 3am to 2am.

N0179. QUEEN 'DUMPED'. Lèse majesté is the crime of offending the dignity of a reigning monarch. This is what the yellow press journalists infer the Fiji government has done to Queen Elizabeth II by their use of words such as "dumped" to describe Government's replacement of the Queen's face on the new currency coins and notes. Some, including the UK Daily Mirror, have stated the change is "retaliation" for Britain's political position on Fiji. When journalists can made "big" news out of an innocuous coinage decision, we have little reason to trust them on real issues.

Fiji became a republic following the 1987 coup but recognizes and respects the Queen as head of the Commonwealth. Her photo still takes pride of place in public offices and her birthday is still a public holiday, despite Fiji's suspension from the Commonwealth.  The new design will incorporate Fiji fauna and flora such as the tagimoucia flower, the crested iguana and many other species which are on the verge of extinction, and well known icons such as the tanoa or kava bowl. It is surprising the Queen's head held on so long. Sorry, Your Majesty. The new currency is expected to be in circulation by June next year.

N0180. DVD INTENDED TO NEGATE INFLUENCE IN VILLAGES. The DVD produced  by Suliasi Draunitutu (the same man who speaks of God, Satan and the Beast) and circulated by Sam Speight and other SDL people in Fiji is aimed particularly at itauakei in rural villages. Draunitutu said told RadioNZ International it's intended to counter the influence of Government's rural development initiatives.

“From their [the villagers'] perspective, this government is a very good government because of the developments that are coming to them. They don’t know that behind these developments, there’s a lot of loans that have been made, there’s a lot of corruption, a lot of nepotism going on. To them the only thing they see is development.”

Suliasi Daunitutu says he is educating people first so they will be keen to take part in an anti-government protest he’s planning, timed to piggy back on protests in the Middle East.    That's today, Friday. I wonder how many answered his call at Sukuna and Albert Park?  One thing is clear, thought — Draunitutu and the FDFM think Bainimarama is winning the hearts and minds in rural Fiji.

N0181. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL NZ. Radio NZInternational reports AI claims knowledge of "seven young men [who] were reportedly tortured and ill-treated by the military because they had been discussing plans for a demonstration on Friday.It says human rights activists and family members who asked for their release were also beaten at the army barracks in Suva and were warned the young men would be killed if they spoke to anyone about their treatment." CEO Patrick Holmes says "at least ten politicians, trade unionists, government critics and others have been arrested and subjected to severe beatings and torture in the last two weeks by the military."

I have written to Mr Holmes asking what measures AI takes to verify the credentials and stories of its informants. He assures me he will reply to my questions soon.

It should be noted that in broadcasting such stories of Fiji, without any attempt at independent verification (such as those taken by Bruce Hill in ABC's Pacific Beat), Radio NZI becomes a party to the stories. Readers who may be asking why Radio NZI is taking such a partisan position on Fiji, should know that my emails to Radio NZI have gone unanswered.

N0182. RADIO NZI STUMBLES ON.  The state-funded broadcaster provides further details of the young men's detention. They were supplied by Usaia Waqatairewa, president of the Sydney-based Fiji Democracy and Freedom Movement, by now well known to readers of this blog, from Sydney.  They may be right, they may be wrong, we do not know, but Waqatairewa  is hardly the most impartial — or informed — of informants. If any one person is responsible for the present spate of rumour and misinformation, he'd  be a prime suspect.

If you've missed it, scroll down to the Weekend Reading 
(♦ Fiji's New Diplomacy ♦ Why the Roadmap Pt II) and 

check out the new Quote for the Week in the right sidebar.

N0086. A LAUGH TO START THE WEEK. It seem that if Francis Kean becomes the new chairman of the FRU, his brother-in-law the Prime Minister may become the president (again.) I don't see why one position depends on the other but Michael Field says this is so, and we should never question Michael Field even though former FRU Board member Charlie Cousins says there is no other likely candidate so Frank may become president with no thanks to his brother-in-law.

Frank certainly wants to be at the World Cup to be held in NZ, whether or not he's the president, but if both he and his brother-in-law are respectively appointed president and chairman, the IRB will pay both their expenses to New Zealand. There's only one hitch.

Sir Lancelot, the NZ Foreign Minister (and shadow Minister for Border Security) Murray McCully, says not over his dead body. New Zealand is a sovereign nation and there are travel bans against the likes of you two.

The Field scoop seems to be just another example of a journalist making the news, but McCully did miss one thing: Fiji is also a sovereign nation.

N0087. FIJI TIMES. Australian Brian O’Flaherty  has replaced Dallas Swinstead as the  General Manager of the Fiji Times. He is a former News Ltd employee and a former publisher of the Fiji Times. His wife Adrienne was also a journalist. The O'Flaherty's  know Fiji well having lived and worked here during the 1990s in the period leading up to 1997 Constitution under former PM Sitiveni Rabuka.

N0088. LABOUR SLAMS COUP 4.5 MISCHIEF. An article in the Fiji Labour Party website  has slammed as "mischievous lies a report in the Coup 4.5 blog that Mahendra Chaudhry and Felix Anthony are organising a protest march for next month."  The report continued:

"This is yet another example of baseless and malicious reporting by Coup 4.5. The integrity and credibility of this blog has already been seriously undermined by false reporting in the past.

“It is pure fabrication. I want to ask Coup 4.5 and their collaborators who are political detractors of the Fiji Labour Party (and whose identities we are clearly aware of), when are they going to desist from such malicious propaganda against the FLP leadership?” asked FLP’s assistant secretary-general Lekh Ram Vayeshnoi.

N0089. NEW TOURISM RECORD. For the very first time ever annual tourist arrival numbers have exceeded the magical 600,000 mark, nearly 78,000 more than last year's record. Tourism Minister Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum said Tourism Fiji will have its work cut out to maintain and grow these numbers but he thought it could be done with good marketing strategies and alliances.

The industry also now needs to concentrate on on developing quality tourist shopping and other local ancillary services and, with Government help, establish a data base for better synergies and hotel intelligence. More attention also needs to be given to emerging markets such as India and China. One thing the Minister did not mention was the possible effects of the Queensland floods on the Fiji industry.

N0090. NEW REGIONAL HQ IN SUVA. Last year it was all about moving regional headquarters from Fiji though none were moved. This year starts with the Center for the Development of Enterprise (CDE) that will soon set up its  Pacific headquarters in Suva. This was announced on Friday by Foreign Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola and visiting CDE Director Mr Jean-Eric Romagne and the Head for the CDE Pacific office to be based in Suva, Mr Jean-Pierre Mathey. -- Based on 2011, No: 0240 /MOI.

The CDE is an ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific)/EU joint institution created in the framework of the Cotonou Agreement and its finances mainly come from the European Development Fund (EDF). Its objective is to ensure the development of professional ACP enterprises operating in the private sector. CDE provides non-financial services to ACP companies and to joint initiatives of ACP and EU economic operators in various economic sectors, with the main aim to increase competitiveness of ACP enterprises.

N0091.ALLEGED MURDERER BACK IN NZ. Devesh Shama, accused of murdering his wife Ranjeeta, was charged with murder in the Hamilton District Court on Saturday. Extradicton from Fiji was unnecessary as he returned voluntarily to NZ following his arrest by Fji Police. His 4-year old son Akesk is being cared for by NZ welfare authorities as Akesh has no close relatives in New Zealand.

PM in Namosi, Media/Blog Botch Doctor Figures, Police & Prisons, Whose Propaganda, Religio Warned

N0023. RIDE 'EM COWBOY. This item as much for the Fiji Sun photo (I couldn't resist it) as for the story. The PM visited remote Wainiyavu Village in the remote interior of Namosi province earlier in the week. The Turaga ni Koro Petero Matavutuka said: “I’ve lived my whole life in the village. This is the first a Prime Minister ever visited us. There is no road that leads to the village but still he came. We waited for him to come and experience first-hand what we face every day in order to get to the town or city to sell our produce.”

The PM said government knows the Tikina o Veinuqa has transport and service difficulties.  What is needed is a a bridge at Namado and Wainiyavu so people can easily transport their vegetables or root crops to the urban centres. Funds have been allocated for the bridge which will cost $1.2m. The PM gave 20 horses to the villagers which cost $6000. In 2010, Government had provided over $400,000 for developments in Namosi province, which included farm and non-PWD roading, forestry, a building grant and eleven self-help projects. The applications of some 939 social welfare recipients had also been approved.

N0024. FIJI TODAY/FIJI SUN BOTH TOTALLY BOTCH DOCTORS FIGURES.   You can't altogether blame the moderate anti-government blog Fiji Today for getting its facts wrong when  it reported "Recent statistics released by the Ministry of Health shows that out of the 850 trained doctors in the country 400 have left for greener pastures last year." They were merely quoting the Fiji Sun. But they said this equated to more than one doctor per day and really rubbed it in by adding "Good one, Frank. You are building a better Fiji." Click on both  hyperlinks above to check that I've got this right, and then read on...

The figures they cite are completely wrong, and the journalists responsible have no good excuse because they should immediately have queried obviously suspicious figures and because there were quick ways to do so. I looked at the figures and thought 850 trained doctors? Fiji only has 8,000 teachers and they can't possibly outnumber doctors by only 10:1.

So I checked the Bureau of Statistics website that showed there were only 416 doctors in 2009, and as a further check I consulted the Ministry of Health's  website. Their Strategic Plan for 2011 states that it aims to maintain the number of doctors at 54 per 100,000 population. This would give 480 (not 850) doctors in an estimated 2010 population of 888,000.  So the Fiji Sun and Fiji Today are way off the mark.

And then, incredibly, they made a second error by saying the loss of 400 doctors occurred in one year, when the figure is for the past 10 to 15 years, that gives a loss of between 40 to 27 doctors a year. Still a large number but locally graduating doctors and overseas recruitment should make up much of the loss.

I hope the Fiji Sun and Fiji Today editors blush with shame, with the latter offering Frank an apology.

N0025. POLICE & PRISONS JOIN FORCES. A MOU signed last year between these two services is expected to result in greater efficiency, less recidivism and lower costs. Information and intelligence will be shared through regular liaison and there will be joint training programmes, operational activities, and media releases whenever necessary. Further, they will share human and technical resources for investigatory and training purposes, and the supervision and monitoring of rehabilitation of former prison inmates.-- Based on 2011, No:0055 /MOI.

N0026. WHY PRINT GOVERNMENT PROPAGANDA? "Anare" asks why I publish government releases with no comment, saying it makes the blog look like "a mirror of government propaganda."  I rely on numerous news sources, including government, and the source is always acknowledged. The original release is usually abbreviated and sometimes commented upon. News releases from government sources are more conspicuous because I cannot provide a hyperlink. I added the source (usually -- Based on ...) at the end, where it stands out.  

But I do publish a lot of government news.  This is because much is not used by the local, and almost none by the overseas, media that seem more interested in the personal and sensational than in "boring" news on developments that cumulatively show progress towards Charter goals.

N0027. RELIGIO WARNED. Police in Nadi have warned a religious leader against preaching against other churches and to stop making racist remarks. Failure to heed the warning will result in the cancellation of the church's permit to hold gatherings.

Two Thoughtful Comments: On Collective Memory and Conventional Media Practices

Moment of assassination of US President John F Kennedy, Dallas, Texas, November 22, 1963. Photo credit: Obrag.org 

COLLECTIVE MEMORY Ni bula, Croz, e na vakatawase has left a new comment on your post "The Tongan Elections":

A great piece, Croz, and yet more evidence that the youthful naivete so prevalent in the island media is no substitute for the age and experience of an old hand like you. When you've been in these parts for nearly half a century, you're fully entitled to express whatever opinion you like, however much it offends the critics. Anyone who remembers the Tofua and the Matua, let alone sailed on them, or negotiated the raised centre aisle of a Fiji Airways De Havilland Heron deserves to be heard with respect.

A recent editorial by Fred Wesley in the Fiji Times reminded me of how little collective memory is brought to bear on current events. In a piece on someone who'd managed to reach the ripe old age on 101, Wesley wrote in apparent awe that there were still people in Fiji who could remember the assassination of John F, Kennedy, the British colonial era and Fiji's independence. I've yet to reach three score years and can remember all three! You go back a lot longer and have accumulated much more knowledge. As the old saying goes, those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.

But in the case of Fiji, it's the appalling general ignorance of the past that produces the same mistakes again and again. You've now got to be 23 years old to have even been born at the time of Rabuka's 1987 coup. And you've got to be 40 to have been born at Independence. Is it any wonder that these events are now regarded as ancient history and irrelevant to peoples' lives?

Yet the same racial, political and social pressures remain largely unresolved and blight what could and should have been the brightest of futures. With the Fiji media, it's a case of the blind leading the blind.. You, on the other hand, are able to shine a torch on history and relate it to the present. May your battery continue to hold out for many years to help light the path ahead. Happy New Year!


THE ABC INTERVIEW AND COUP4.5'S ANONYMOUS MR X
 The ABC of getting it wrong has left a new comment on your post "PM's 2011 Message, Great Council of Chiefs Politic...":

Conventional practice in news and current affairs has it that interviewees should only have their identities concealed when there is a clear threat to their positions and the information being imparted is of such importance that there is a clear public interest in granting them anonymity.

The ABC would undoubtedly argue that one of the principals of Coup 4.5 deserves the cloak of anonymity because of the possibility of government retribution. But that's where any justification ends and even this depends on whether the person being interviewed was actually in Fiji and within striking distance of the alleged bully boys of the military.

Is he in danger on the streets of Auckland or Sydney? Not on the evidence thus far. Not only do regime critics thrive there but there's no indication whatsoever that Frank Bainimarama is a Saddam Hussein who orders death squads to pursue his opponents abroad. So how hazardous is this individual's position beyond being unmasked as a regime critic? Would he be captured, tortured and forced to reveal the secrets of 4.5? Maybe in Fiji in more fevered minds but nowhere else,

Where the ABC is really vulnerable to criticism and complaint is that this person's contribution to the debate was so pedestrian. Merely parroting the usual anti-regime line meant that nothing of what he said met the public interest test. There was no new information of such pressing urgency that the public benefited from hearing from the man with the mask.

Now, one might argue that I am anonymous in these columns. But this is comment, not news, an important distinction. And in any event, the whole world accepts that an entirely different set of conventions applies to the Bloggersphere. When it comes to news and information programs on a mainstream public broadcaster like the ABC, the audience clearly deserves better.

Yes, there are times when whistle-blowers deserve anonymity in the public interest, as well as their own, but this wasn't one of them. The whistle wasn't being blown on anything. Bruce Hill and his editors allowed a run-of-the-mill regime critic to sprout run-of-the-mill anti-regime criticism and in doing so, debased not just an importance convention but the credibility of the ABC.

PM's 2011 Message, Great Council of Chiefs Political, Fiji to Complain NZ Misreporting Bainimarama's Death, Coup4.5's Mr X

SCROLL DOWN TO WEEKEND POSTINGS

PM'S NEW YEAR MESSAGE. "We must all work together and not shy away from taking tough decisions." Click here.

GREAT COUNCIL OF CHIEFS MUST BE APOLITICAL. For many years the GCC has been a body that exerted considerable influence on Fiji politics.  It appointed the President and Vice-President, appointed nearly one-half of the members of Senate (that could veto legislation), and "approved" the SVT and later the SDL parties to represent ethnic Fijians in parliament. It supported Qarase's Qoliqoli and Reconciliation legislation, and after the 2006 coup refused to appoint a Vice-President nominated by the Bainimarama goverment which led to its suspension. 

Government is committed to removing politics from the Great Council of Chiefs, and wants chiefs, not politicians and civil servants. These comments were made by the permanent secretary to the Prime Minister’s Office, Colonel Pio Tikoduadua while confirming that the re-convening of the Great Council of Chiefs was among the issues discussed by the PM and the Tui Cakau Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu at their  meeting before Christmas. The GCC remains adjourned for now but government is looking into this and will call a meeting  as and when the need arises. Meanwhile, Government has been convening the meeting of tikina (district) chiefs, and the Bose ni Turaga (Council of Chiefs that has a much larger membership) has already sat three times. These chiefs are constantly in touch with the people and provide a wider representation of  chiefs from the 14 provinces.

FIJI TO COMPLAIN NZ HERALD MISREPORTING. Bruce Hill of the Australian Broadcasting Commission interviews Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and a spokesman for CoupFourPointFive on the story carried by the NZ Hereald earlier this year that PM Bainimarama was dead.  The A-G says Fiji will complain to the NZ media authority. The blogger said such false reports were due to media restrictions in Fiji; the Bainimarama government was "hugely unpopular" and "hanging in by the skin of their teeth" which was a good political plug but irrelevant in the context of Bainimarama's misreported death.  Khaiyum said the paper could at least have checked out its story.  Asked what sort of penalty he expected, he said he was not familiar with NZ penalties but thought the paper could at least apologize. Thank you,  Bruce, for airing this story. It apparently did not merit a mention by the NZ media.

VOICE BUT NO FACE. So whose was the mystery voice on the ABC interview, and why if we had a voice did we not also have a face and a name?  I couldn't hear every word he said, and had to listen twice before I could pick up his general argument, but he sounded male in his thirties, causasian or someone who has lived for years and been educated in NZ, and he's possibly a journalist or someone who makes his money from words.  I doubt he's been to Fiji in recent years but he obviously has some connections, perhaps through once living or working there, or through friendships in Auckland. CoupFourPointFive has several editors.  I suspect he was chosen as spokesman because he had the least reason to conceal his identity. Other anti-Bainimarama bloggers such as Sai Lealea (FijiCoup2006), Peter Firkin (FijiToday), Adi Elisapeci Samanunu Waqanivalu (Luvei Viti) and even Mere Samisoni in Fiji (Matavuvale), reveal their identity.  It would be good if we could put a face to Mr X from CoupFourPointFive.

'Eakalafi Moala and Baroness Onora O'Neill on Media Freedom

Media, a Destructive or Constructive Force in Peace and Development? Lessons from Tonga *
By 'Eakalafi Moala

CEO, Taimi Media Network 
(with a concluding note by Baroness Onora O'Neill)

 "  I believe in media freedom, but I also believe in media responsibility and media accuracy and commitment to truth. I also believe that Pacific Island media is under no obligation whatsoever to follow a Western format, as in politics, of media coverage based on conflict."

Stop Press on CoupFourPointFive

CoupFourPointFive's posting today on Driti and Mara is incredulous. They write that the two military leaders were reinstated after they apologized to Bainimarama for plotting to depose him. The blog must take their readers for fools if they think they will believe this. Someone plots to depose you; they say sorry and all is forgiven?  The blog should just admit their first report was wrong, rather than trying to wriggle out of it with another tall story.  Errors happen all the time when one relies on unsubstantiated, anonymous rumours.

Their second posting was on Sharon Smith-Johns and it is deeply offensive and libellous. The accusation was first published months ago on another anti-government blog and has no more substance now than it did then.  I am quite frankly shocked that a once reputable anti-govenment blog should have stooped so low.

CoupFourPointFive no longer meets the criterion of a 'reasonable' anti-Government blog and for this reason I have removed  the link to the blog on this site. The decision will be reviewed when CoupFourPointFive shows signs of returning to its previous status.

I trust RadioNZ International and other international media will think twice before again using CoupFourPointFive for their  information, and they should certainly never publish anything from this source until they have verified the information.

Scholarships by Merit and Need, Not Race and Influence; CoupFourPointFive Going Downhill

MAJOR CHANGES TO SCHOLARSHIPS.  Major changes are expected in the present race-based scholarships funded by government.

Up until now Fiji has had two separate scholarship pools, one for i-taukei and Rotumans, the other for Indo-Fijians and the minority communities. There is no financial cut-off point for itaukei and Rotuman applicants, anyone can apply irrespective of what their parents earn. But for Indo-Fijian applicants their combined parents' annual income must not exceed $10,000, and for Other Ethnic applicants $15,000.

It does not take a wizard to see how this worked. The ethnic Fijian elite had their children's education subsidized by government, using taxes paid for by all communities. Their children, given generally better schooling and parental support) would be likely to obtain higher higher school grades. These grades and their parents' "connections" meant they were more likely to be awarded scholarships than children from poorer itaukei families, with poorer schooling,less parental support, and fewer "connections." In other words, the system favoured the relatively small number of better-off itaukei at the expense of the vast number of other itaukei.

The poor were eligible for the scholarships and some would receive them. But the competition with more favoured children would be tough.  I suspect many  of those itaukei now living overseas who are opposed to the Bainimarama government once received these scholarships.

The situation was reversed for Indo-Fijians and Other Ethnics. Their elite — and families earning more than $10,000 or $192 a week (the Basic Needs Urban Poverty Line in 2003 was $150) — received NO assistance from government, although, of course, they paid taxes to help fund ALL scholarships. Only Indo-Fijian children with parents whose combined income was LESS than $10,000 p.a. were eligible to apply for scholarships. This, incredibly, would effectively cut out almost all whose school grades were high enough to win a scholarship on merit.

In reporting this, FijiLive said "no reason has been given for the different criteria set but this seems to be the norm" but whatever the reason, the effect was to award a disproportionate number of scholarship to the children of the itaukei elite — and the Indo-Fijian (and Other Ethnics) poor — at the expense of the itaukei poor and the bulk of the non-itaukei. Thank goodness the PM has announced new criteria for scholarships that will be merit and need based, not race based, and a merger of the itaukei and non-itaukei separate pools.

One further factor needs to be fed into the scholarhip situation. Itaukei are also eligible to apply for scholarships from a raft of funds available from provincial councils, fund-raising activities,land lease money, and other sources. Such money I see as an entitlement. It derives from itaukei sources.  It is the way government-sourced money, derived from all races, has been used that raises questions of fairness, justice and citizenship.

The People's Charter has a vision to have equal opportunities for all Fiji citizens irrespective of their race or religion. It also states that there should be merit-based equality when it comes to opportunities.

COUP FOUR POINT FIVE used to be a reasoned anti-government blog, far better than most of the others. It has changed its editors more than once since it started in June last year, and its current editors are not in the same class as its founders.  This is what one of my readers wrote after visiting the blog:

"I made the mistake of visiting Coup 4.5 to see what the others were saying. Some of the comments there are very depressing. It's as if a collective madness has taken hold.

"Apart from the three-line group-speak and general sense of delusion, what's really jarring is the constant stream of abuse and racial and sexual invective.

"The recent stuff on Ana Rokomokoti is appalling. How the gatekeepers on that site can pass some of the things that have been said about her - from her sexual performance to her racial origins -is reprehensible. This is late night bar talk among drunks in some sleazy dive, not for general publication.

"It all smacks of frustration and utter desperation, the last days in the anti-regime bunker. As in Hitler's last days, every little pyrrhic victory is seized on, no matter how inconsequential, every nay-sayer is a traitor and any notion of dispassionate analysis, let alone truth, has given way to the basest propaganda.

"They've lost the plot, the moral high ground and, it seems, the battle. And for the first time, one senses that they know it. Four years of fruitless agitation - as long as the Great War - has come to nought."

Note. I provide a link to CoupFourPointFive on this blog.  They have removed the link to my blog on theirs.  I accept all reasonable and original comments from all sources.  CoupFourPointFive refuses to accept my comments.

If you broadly support the position taken on most issues by this blog, please visit their blog, leave a reasonable comment, and let me know if it was published. Vinaka.

Pita, Tevita and the Cheshire Cat

PITA DRITI AND RATU TEVITA ULUILAKEBA MARA. There has been much speculation over the significance of these two senior military officers taking extended leave.

Those opposed to the Bainimarama government claim the situation reflects serious divisions in the military and an attempt by Bainimarama to forestall action against him. Those promoting this interpretation include the blog CoupFourPointFive (that first published the story), former Land Force Commander Jone Baledrokadroka (now studying at ANU), RadioNZ International (that most unusually cited a blog as its source of information!) and journalist-cum-blogger Michael Field with his usual bag of weighted words and colourful phrases.

Field writes: "Key members of a colonel’s clique that backed Fiji’s 2006 military coup have been sent on indefinite leave by military strongman Voreqe Bainimarama amid wild rumours of further action. Two key figures were dumped yesterday following the unexplained departure of another last month as Bainimarama appears to be fending off challenges..."

Reports from Suva, however, suggest there is nothing unusual about the move.  The Fiji Sun  reports:  "A huge amount of outstanding leave has led to two senior temporary appointments within the Republic of the Fiji Military Forces.Colonel Mosese Tikoitoga has been appointed acting Land Force Commander and Major Amani Suliano is temporary commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion Fiji Infantry Regiment.They will hold the fort for Brigadier Pita Driti and Lieutenant-Colonel Ratu Tevita Uluilakeba, who are on leave." [My italics.]

So where does this leave independent observers?  Should they believe the story started by CoupFourPointFive, that a month ago reported that Voqere Bainimarama and Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum had been arrested (when Bainimarama was actually at a meeting and Khaiyum was overseas) or should they believe the official story?  Both sides are credible and both sides want us to believe what they say.  For the moment, I'll observe the old Cheshire saying, "When in doubt, do nowt."

"`Cheshire Puss,' [Alice] began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little wider. `Come, it's pleased so far,' thought Alice, and she went on. `Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'
`That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.
`I don't much care where--' said Alice.
`Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.
`--so long as I get SOMEWHERE,' Alice added as an explanation.
`Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, `if you only walk long enough.'"
                                                         --From Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.

FLASHBACK JULY 2009. From the blog Archives 15 July 2009."Last week CoupFourpointfive reported Bainimarama had suspended Land Force Commander Pita Driti and Commanding officer of the 3rd Infantry Regiment Ratu Tevita Uluilakeba Mara. But on Monday the story was that it was Driti and Ratu Tevita telling Bainimarama to step down, and yesterday (Wednesday) it's back to Bainimarama telling Driti and Ratu Tevita again. Yet both officers were reported taking morning tea on Monday at the barracks and neither has made a public statement. To keep the pot boiling, the blogs also reported tension "within the ranks" over Bainimarama's cancellation of the Methodist Conference, saying "inside sources" said the Conference will go ahead despite the cancellation.

As you may see, I think it's a little early to take the CoupFourPointFive story too seriously.

Good News from Cakaudrove, SFO Threatens NZ Journalists, EU's €, Bruce Hill, Usaia's FDFM and Me

GOOD NEWS FROM CAKAUDROVE. Reports from the Cakadrove Provincial Council meeting in Somosomo, Taveuni,  are that the paramount chief of Cakaudrove, the Tui Cakau Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, who is also the head of the powerful Tovata Confederacy, comprising, Cakaudrove, Bua, Macuata and Lau, says he now agrees with changes imposed by the Government for the betterment of the country, and that it is time to forget the past and for everyone to work together to make Fiji a better place to live in. 
Map from Walsh: Fiji: An Encyclopaedic Atlas, 2006, USP.


This, in my view, constitutes a major change in the Fiji political scene and offers hope of early reconciliations and faster progress with the reforms leading to the 2014 elections. Its significance is confirmed by the response of Sai Lealea,  a popular anti-goverment blogger, on his blog Fiji Coup 2006. He writes from Wellington:

"Coming from my paramount chief, this is indeed a monumental decision. It is one I will have to consider in terms of my position against the current illegal regime in Fiji, if indeed it is confirmed as a statement from the Tui Cakau ... I have been heavily guided in my opposition to the illegal takeover of the government of Fiji in 2006, by the principled stance taken by the chiefs of Fiji and the Great Council of Chiefs ... In the event the Tui Cakau's call  to the people of Cakaudrove to support the current regime's initiatives is confirmed, I will be reconsidering my current stance in line with my paramount chief's direction.  In such a case, I will be emboldened by the fact that his call is for supporting the initiatives currently implemented to benefit the people of Cakaudrove, especially those greatly in need of assistance, and those who contribute to the coffers of government through taxes."

Ratu Naiqama said this was a new beginning for the people of Cakaudrove and he hoped there would be widespread support for whatever decision was made. He said development efforts undertaken by the Government continued to lift the standards of living of the people [and] he had never heard of Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama trying to stop the assistance to his people. The latter remark is especially significant because overseas anti-government critics had claimed Government development moneys were only being spent in rural areas loyal to government, or used as bribes to win over areas with uncertain support.

The Roko Tui Cakaudrove Ro Aca Mataitini said the two-day meeting would ensure that the people embrace the reforms outlined in the People's Charter for Peace and Progress. The Government would always respect the Vanua and in return the Government hoped the Vanua would do the same. He said the people of Cakaudrove needed to open their hearts and accept the changes that were currently in place. After the two day meeting which ends today, the Tui Cakau, Provincial Council Chairman Emitai Boladuadua and the Roko Tui Cakaudrove will make an appointment to meet the Prime Minister. For the FijiVillage account, click  here.

I DIDN'T KNOW THIS. Our media raised hell about the Fiji Media Decree.  What it didn't tell us was that the Serious Fraud Office Act 1990 gives the SFO powers to execute search warrants on media offices and to charge journalists who attempt to "obstruct investigations" with imprisonment for 12 months or a fine of up to $15,000; with publishers facing a $40,000 fine. I only found out because of "Sarah's" comment on yesterday's posting.  Had we known this when the international media was calling the Fiji Media Decree "draconian" we would have been in a better position to form an informed opinion. Source:  Scoop.

EU ASKED TO RECONSIDER ITS STANCE. EU Ambassador Peceli Vocea has requested the EU to relax its stance on Fiji. EU suspended assistance amounts to over €24 million in sugar subsidies (and  would do This means withholding development aid worth about 30 million euros ($44 million) and subsidy payments to sugar farmers amounting to 115 million euros ($169).

TRYING TO BE AN IMPARTIAL JOURNALIST. Bruce Hill rang me after my postings (19 October) which suggested a lack of balance in his interviews with Rev Yakabi and Usaia Waqatairewa, and I thank him for that. I think he genuinely tries to be impartial but his choice of topics and those interviewed indicate just how difficult it is to modify the internalised positions we grow up with.

Bruce thinks democracy is the best system of government and has no sympathy for those who overthrown democratic governments. I agree. But I doubt Fiji under Qarase was a democratic government and I think Bainimarama is just as genuine as Bruce in wanting a democratic government.  Bruce thinks some people in Fiji would not talk to him because they were afraid but it is just as possible they are tired of answering the same loaded, anti-government questions. I suggested he ask people what questions they would like to be asked, and thought he would get a better response with this approach.

Bruce knew little about Usaia Waqatairewa and the FDFM but thought they represented a significant number of emigré Fijians. He cited their recent meeting which drew people from all over Australia. My information is that they struggled to get 200 people to the meeting and those attending were exclusively ethnic Fijians.

In the course of the conversation Bruce directed me to his earlier interview with three ethnic Fijian SDL supporters who had been declined refugee status in Australia. The abuses they cited were in 2007 and towards the end of the programme the Australian authorities said they had no information to support claims of ongoing abuses.

Here is the link to Bruce's programme. His interview is fair but why the choice of topic and informants, and the late denial by Australian authorities?

Fiji 'Refugees', Eradicating Poverty, NZTV Condones Racist Comments, Fiji Media, Fuel and Gas

FIJIAN 'REFUGEES' CLOG AUSSIE ASYLUM QUEUE. A small handful of ethnic Fijians in Australia may have genuine concerns about returning to Fiji because of their political views,  although there is no evidence that the Fiji government has persecuted any returnees, and there are certainly no instances of imprisonment, torture or deaths that would warrant concern today.  News that Fijian refugee applications are causing delays in applications from other countries where persecution is real leaves one thinking how selfish the bulk of these applications must be.  Economic and anti-Bainimarama migrants masquerading as political refugees – and, I assume, using refugee quotas far more deserved by others – says much about the gullibility and paranoia of the applicants.

ECONOMY NOT POLITICS DRIVING EMIGRATION. USP's Development Studies Professor Vijay Naidu,  says his studies reveal economic reasons are the main reason for people leaving Fiji.“We are not having everyday political turmoil in the country but the economy is not expanding and the labour market is not expanding. The cost of living is going up and so they are looking for opportunities elsewhere.” Some 5,000-6,500 people have been migrating overseas each year since 1995. The latest figures show 2009 numbers were at just over 5,000. Professor Naidu said before the 2006 coup emigrants were mostly Fiji Indians but indigenous Fijians are now making up more of the diaspora.

ERADICATING POVERTY. Sunday was the day the UN set aside as  International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Today and tomorrow Government's Eradicating Poverty Unit has organised campaign at the Civic Auditorium.  Minister Leweni said the main thrust will be on showing ways to access to decent work and opportunities for learning and training. The poor needs to be "empowered to effectively participate because they play a vital role in combating poverty.” NGOs will display the crafts they were taught during the skills training that was conducted as part of the build-up to the Poverty Eradication Day.

Government has in place a number of pro-poor programmes in the various ministries which include: Family Assistance Scheme, Poverty Alleviation Program, Care and Protection Program for Children, Food Vouchers, Grants to Voluntary Organizations, Women Plan of Action, Cottage Industry Development, Free School Tuition, Textbooks Assistance, Bus fare Assistance, and more land made accessible for productive and economic purposes. -- Based on 2010 No: 1731 /MOI.

NZ MEDIA IRRESPONSIBILITY. There were 1,500 public complaints to the NZ Broadcast Standards Authority about the comments of TV1 broadcaster Paul Henry. On his Breakfast programme Henry, referring to the Governor-General's position,  had "jokingly" asked PM John Key if he was "going to choose a New Zealander who looks and sounds like a New Zealander this time?"

Our present GG is Anand Satyanand, New Zealand-born and raised, of Indo-Fijian parents. A few days earlier Henry had mocked a senior Indian politician and Commonwealth Games official Shiela Dixit (pronounced Dix-it), calling her "Dick Shit."  Earlier still he had disrespected or mocked immigrant doctors, a woman with prominent facial hair and  a woman with learning disabilities..." Listener Columnist Diana Wichtel wrote (16 October): "From mispronouncing names that don't sound Kiwi to deploying the 'c' word to calling people retarded: many ill-advised thoughts, having bypassed his brain, come to of his mouth." She thought there was "now nothing left for him but set his pants on fire to get attention."

As the Listener editors pointed out, when the daughter of former UK PM Margaret Thatcher "made a single off-air racist remark... she was dumped by the BBC." Not so with TVNZ.  First it said Henry was only saying what many quietly thought (sic!), and a day later announced his "temporary suspension." The Listener said his employment "by any other reputable public broadcaster would [have] ensure[d] his dismissal." 

The Listener called for Henry's hide and the hides of the TVNZ management that condoned his outbursts because they helped TVNZ's popularity ratings and advertising earnings.  The Listener pointed to the "progressive slide" in the quality of of TV news and current affairs "to the point where it's debatable the public is getting the quality of service expected of a state-owned broadcaster: full, fair and reliable coverage of news." 

So, if we turn this NZ situation back to Fiji: it's always a question of balancing media freedom with media responsibility. In Fiji, we hope recent signs of responsibility will be matched with more freedoms.  In NZ, we too often need less freedom and more responsibility — and, to quote the Listener,  the occasional "full, fair and reliable coverage of news" on Fiji.  [The issue will receive more attention in this "Weekend Reading".]

MEDIA IN FIJI. Calling overseas comments on the Fiji media "superficial" USP Journalism head Shailendra Singh said “there are people in Fiji fed-up with the media fixation on race and politics year-in-year-out. The fact that the media is reporting ‘cat and dog’ stories is not necessarily a bad thing." He said "some overseas journalists, full of “idealism” but out of touch with the ground realities in Fiji, were giving a misleading impression of the everyday situation in the country." “What kind of journalism should Fiji journalists practice?” he asked.“ Fiji journalists were being realistic, pragmatic and operating and surviving as best as they could in the environment that they were working in. 

RUSSELL HUNTER, former publisher of the Fiji Sun and deported from Fiji 18 months ago for his anti-government position, has now, without warning, resigned as development editor from the Samoa Observer from which he periodically lobbed long-distance shots at Fiji and helped form the new regional media association PacMA. He said, “I do not feel that I have delivered what I came here to deliver and am not convinced that I will be able to do so. I wish the Samoa Observer every success in the future." Editor-in-chief Savea Sano Malifa and publisher Muliaga Jean Malifa of the Samoa Observer News Group (SONG) accepted his resignation.  -- My source: Pacific Media Watch.

FUEL SELF-SERVICE. Having failed to persuade Government to ease price controls, the country's fuel retailers will switch to self-service today, at a cost of  400 attendants losing their jobs.

OIL AND GAS IN FIJI? A geologist thinks one prospective offshore drilling site 30km from Suva could meet 50% of Fiji's demand.

China Rolls On, EU Rolls Back, Chaudhry, Tiger Woods, Some Hard Questions on the Media

WELCOME TO OCTOBER AND A NEW WEEK.There are several new features in the right sidebar this week: a new Quote for the Week (that the PM should recognize) and three videos-- two patriotic songs and an an old interview with 'the Man.' The Countdown clock shows there are still about 1,440 days to the elections.  You should also check out the Weekend Reading if you missed it. Your comments, of course, are welcome as usual but no more anonymous comments, please, if you wish to have them published.

PERSONAL ATTACKS AND RACISM. In making your comments, remember that while criticizing a person's statements or known position is a perfectly acceptable means of debate, attacking the person and not their statement, is not. Similarly criticizing someone who happens to be of a different race or culture is not racism, but attacking the person because he or she is of that race or culture, and writing stereotypal derogatory remarks about the person's race or culture,  most definitely is.

CHINA'S AMBASSADOR Han Zhiqiang said he appreciates Fiji's adherence to the one-China policy and support for their country's reunification process. Addressing the reception last Wednesday to mark the 61st anniversary of the founding of the PRC, Han said China supports Fiji's economic and social progress and is willing to provide assistance to Fiji without political conditions.

"Urgent disaster relief donation after cyclones last year, Chinese government scholarships, on-going projects like Navua Hospital and low-cost housing are all examples of China's helping hands toward Fiji," he said. During the first half of 2010, nearly 8,000 Chinese tourists visited Fiji,an increase of 32% on 2009.

EU: "LACK OF PROGRESS." The European Union, as expected, has extended its sanctions against Fiji for another six months "in order to assist [sic!] the country's return to democracy, respect of human rights and the rule of law." It is unclear how the suspension of EU money to assist the ailing sugar industry and the thousands of Fiji citizens affected will benefit from this ongoing action that has seen the cancellation of  sugar allowances, to which Fiji is entitled, since 2007 and no new funds from the 10th European development fund. Ordinary Fijians, one suspects, are far more concerned about the   "fundamental right" to work and earn enough to support their families that the supposed absence of "fundamental freedoms" used by the EU to explain its actions.

There is one concession: "Given the deteriorating economic and social situation and in particular a significant increase in poverty, the EU is currently examining possibilities for direct support to vulnerable populations, not channelled through the Fijian government." In other words, they will help ameliorate a situation that they have helped  cause.  It's a help, of course, but direct assistance to the sugar industry  would help far more. And if it went via government, what harm is there in this? The military won't be hitting heads with candy sticks.

Some would see their action as international solidarity against a rogue regime;  others a string of carriages (Forum, EU,Commonwealth)  pulled by Australian and New Zealand trains on a collision course with Fijian livelihoods.

Hardly had I typed this, than Kevin Rudd's office came out with, "Australia, along with New Zealand and the rest of the international community, remains resolute in calling for a prompt return to democracy and the rule of law in Fiji." There's no doubt about which is the train and which the "rest."  There's little doubt also, if this attitude persists, that it will do irretrievable damage to Australia's reputation in Fiji. Unless, of course, Australia can engineer a counter-coup! 

CHAUDHRY IN CUSTARDY. Sorry for the pun but he does seem to welcome confrontation. Reports  in the "heavily censored" Fiji media  indicate that former PM and FLP leader Mahendra Chaudhry spent the weekend in custody after being arrested on Friday for holding a public meeting in Rakiraki without a permit, which is a breach of the Public Emergency Regulations. He is expected to appear in court today.

THE TIGER WOODS STORY AND FIJI. "The massive disillusionment over Tiger Woods's womanising is based on the widespread error that information conveyed through the media, often shaped by stars and their handlers, is reliable and comprehensive." -- NZ Listener 2-8 October, p.22. Read on ...

The Media, Some Hard Questions and the 
'Dictatorship of the Publishitariat'

Playing Devil's Advocate

 Crosbie Walsh

Speaking at 2010 Pacific Islands Media Association (PIMA) conference in Auckland on Friday, the keynote speaker, well known and respected Tongan media publisher and media freedom activist  'Eakalafi Moala, said, "Press freedom in the Pacific Islands is under constant threat" while "New Zealand journalists ..took freedom of the press for granted."

He said threats to Pacific media freedom were due not only to "government blocking" (he was especially critical of Fiji's Media Decree, where, incidentally, the Fiji Broadcasting Commission reported his speech!) but also to "the social and cultural fabric of the local community" that accepted Government actions less critically than in Western countries. "Media freedom," he said, "operated more easily within a Western-educated social structure and conduct.”

Taken at face value, most would agree. But I wonder. Is it as straightforward as this?  In an ideal world, would press freedom always prevail? Or, to play devil's advocate, should it ever prevail? What, exactly, is media freedom? Can a case be made that restrictions should be placed on the media in some situations? What are those situations? 'Eakalafi talked of cultural constraints in the Pacific but are there no cultural or other constraints in Western societies?

How free, really, is the New Zealand media? Does it truly provide access to information the people need to know? Who decides what we will read and hear and how it is presented? Who decides the news? I'm reluctant to write about Fiji again in this context, but when did the NZ media last report a contrary view on the situation there? How have they helped to explain what is happening, and why?  How do they decide who to interview?  Do  they ever verify their stories? 

One can also ask what is meant by information when so much of what we see is sensationalism and trivia. What real balance exists in their coverage? Even media people ask what's happened to investigative journalism.We've never before had so much access to information, but we've also never has access to so much wrong or useless information.  Sometimes I ask, do I know more about any matter of consequence because of the media, or am I merely more misinformed? And then I ask myself about the supposed role of the media in a democracy and what it actually does.

Who really is this freedom for?  I am not an advertiser or a shareholder in the media.  I don't vote for their Boards or sit on their appointment committees. I have no say whatsoever in what they choose to publish or not to publish.  I am not part of the media or any other establishment. I cannot vote them out with a letter to the editor or an appeal to the Broadcasting Standards Authority.

When it comes down to the hard questions, we should ask how significantly different are the NZ and Pacific media? Different masters, different circumstances and different stories, but  I suspect that whoever pays the piper still calls the tune. My only freedom is the choice to switch off the TV and radio and not read the newspapers. Sometimes, not always of course, I wonder how they dare claim a special, elevated place -- the Fourth Estate -- in a democracy when their power is more akin to a "dictatorship of the publishitariat."

Freedom of the media, by the media, for the media? An overstatement, perhaps. But by how much?

Media Decree Outcry Continues

I will discuss the Media Decree more fully later in the week, comparing what many people wanted changed in the draft decree with its final form. Meanwhile, these comments on reports in the foreign media that in my opinion all suggest a prior prejudgment, with some containing errors of fact or interpretation:

REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS. "We note, for example, that the law insists that a news organisation’s executives must all be Fijian citizens and must have been resident in Fiji for at least three years. The aim of this is to prevent experienced foreign journalists from being put in charge of the Fiji Times or any other Fijian media."

This is an error in fact. The requirements noted refer to directors and ownership, not to editors or journalists. I am unsure of the status of a managing director or CEO, but there seems no reason why a Fiji citizen cannot fill this position. The quality of journalism would therefore not be affected.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL states "journalists can still be imprisoned for being critical of the Government”.
This is incorrect and an exaggeration. The decree makes no mention of government, only to content that is against national or public interest or order, that offends good taste, decency or creates communal (i.e.ethnic) discord. The Decree also calls for high standards, especially in quality, balance, fair judgment and range of subject matter. The decision of what constitutes a breach to the Decree lies with the Tribunal judge, and may be appealed in the Courts. Those found guilty can be fined or, in more serious cases, imprisoned. AI omits the checks and balances.

Patrick Holmes, CEO of Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand is aware of the provisions noted above: the "Authority set up under the decree is tasked with ensuring that local media do not publish material that threatens public interest or order; is against the national interest; or creates communal discord. It will have wide powers of investigation over journalists and media outlets, including powers of search and seizure of equipment."

Comment. Surely he is not suggesting the media should be allowed to publish material of this kind.As for the powers of search and seizure, they require a magistrate's warrant, and may be appealed in the Courts. In this respect, the Tribunal has powers over the media that our police have in other circumstances.

AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER Stephen Smith said Fiji's move to limit foreign ownership was bad for both investment and freedom of speech. The same article notes the Decree is based on the Singapore model which Smith does not attack.
Comment. It is unclear why the "Singapore model" is denigrated (the country is a model for Third World development); why foreign ownership is needed for freedom of speech, or why foreign investors would be deterred by media foreign ownership limits. If the Singapore model is so bad, why doesn't Australia impose travel bans on Singapore? What is good for the goose should be good for the gander.

NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER. John Key described the decree as "very heavy-handed" adding "when a country starts banning the media and telling organisations to sell their newspapers, it is "a step too far". In fact, no media is banned. Many countries put limits and restrictions on foreign ownership, including Australia and New Zealand. Some would argue NZ needs more.

GOOD FOR THE ECONOMY? One reader queried Sharon Smith-Johns comment that "The new Decree will have a positive impact on the economy, human rights, good governance and access to accurate information."
Comment. Fiji has played with media legislation since the early 1990s. Clearly stated legislation, if used properly (and this is the big question), will in the longer term do what Sharon says. More immediately, it  is the scaremongering of the foreign media, and not the Decree, that is bad for investment.

NZ DAILY CALLS CALLS ON FIJIANS TO "OUST DICTATOR."    With a headline that should persuade our leaders than NZ needs a media decree (Editorial: Fijians must take action to oust dictator) the NZ Herald hits out at Fiji on two  grounds: 1) It plans to join the"hotch-potch" of nations in the Non-Aligned Movement, "a gesture doubtless calculated to annoy Wellington and Canberra"; 2) The Media Decree that could close the Fiji Times and "effectively eliminates freedom of expression in Fiji ... In essence, Fijians will no longer know what their rulers are up to."

Editor Greg Bowker echoes NZ Media Freedom Committee Chairman Tim Pankhurst asking NZers to rethink their Fiji holiday, with some vague threat of a future government boycott on tourist travel to Fiji.

Comment. It is unclear how Fiji joining the NAM will annoy Wellington and Canberra. Over 30 Commonwealth countries are members. Or why Fiji should not be equally annoyed about Australian and NZ policies.  Nor is the connection clear between the Fiji Times and freedom of expression. Can only a foreign-owned press be relied upon to protect freedom?  The rethink and boycott suggestions of  Messrs Bowker and Pankhurt should not require comment!

Generally, the Editor needs to be reminded that the job of the media is to provide accurate and balanced information, which the editor has not done. He seems to know nothing of the Non-Aligned Movement, the Media Decree or Fiji, and has added nothing to what has been already been regurgitated by like-minded journalists.  It is not the job of the NZ press to advocate unrest in Fiji.

One must ask: Who pays these people? Who gives them the right to pontificate on matters about which they know so little? Why have we so elevated the Fourth Estate that some of their members think they can write on almost anything and everything sans knowledge, sans research, sans fairness? How can they demand free speech and a free media when they themselves abuse these freedoms?  The NZ media needs to get its house in order before criticising media practices in another sovereign nation.

Media Hurt Samoa and Fiji, Land Reform, People's Charter

(o) Barbara Dreaver and TVNZ found guilty of unbalanced reporting. Barbara Dreaver, who sent a number of misleading reports on Fiji until she was denied entry, has been found wanting for one of her reports on Samoa, and TVNZ that screened and added to her story suggesting Samoa was awash with drugs and guns, has been fined $5000 by the Broadcast Standard Authority, payable to the Samoa Government, with another $2000 payable to the Crown.

"In the Authority's view, the cumulative effect of such a dramatic introduction coupled with the information presented in the item was to create an impression for viewers that not only was the situation in Samoa extremely serious, but Government officials were complicit in the guns and drugs trade."

Two years ago the BSA ruled against Michael Field for misrepresentation.  It's always too late but thank goodness there is some check on sloppy and irresponsible journalism.

(o) Journalists need some knowledge of geography. Fiji is not a single island. Koro is not in northern Fiji. Most of the Fiji group (and 95% of its tourist areas) was unaffected by Hurricane Tomas. But this is not what many overseas readers and viewers have been told.  Josefa Tuamoto, the CEO of Tourism Fiji, says he's been fielding calls from travellers wanting to cancel bookings but there is no need. “Some of them, some of the Kiwis who were planning to travel in June are now considering cancelling. We are saying you don’t have to do that ... we are just trying to correct that perception in the market - that the whole of Fiji is devastated, which it’s not.” One wonders how many tourists were lost to the struggling Fiji. It would a take two minutes search of Google to have written a more accurate -- and less damaging -- account of the hurricane impact.  See on line papers for reports on individual islands and other stories. Fiji Times. Fiji Village. Fiji Live.


(o) The Fiji Times and ANZ Bank have sponsored a fund-raising campaign to assist those affected by the hurricane.

(+) Land reforms will soon be implemented in Fiji following the endorsement by the Cabinet. A formal committee has been set up headed by the Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister's office, Pio Tikoduadua, to identify all land available for leasing. In particular land currently lying idle will be identified.

The committee, according to Cabinet will be tasked with the following:

• Identify the terms and conditions that would be acceptable to both landowners and tenants including rental amounts
• Identify the best legal model or process to be adopted to facilitate this new arrangement
• Procure the services of consultants including land valuers from the private sector and/or academia
  Undertake an extensive public relations exercise on the proposed changes.

Land reforms is a major government initiative, essential to make make fuller use of productive land. Contrary to the scaremongering of government opponents, the reforms will not afffect exist landownership of State and Native land. They are intended to ensure a fairer return to the itaukei (indigenous) landowners and security and longevity of tenure to tenants.

(+) The People's Charter for Change, Peace and Progress is becoming better accepted by Fiji's people, according to National Peoples Charter Advisory Council (NPCAC) chairperson, Josefa Serulagilagi.The NPCAC plays a monitoring role in the implementation of the charter.

Serulagilagi, speaking of the task that lie ahead in rebuilding the nation, said the charter's impacts and benefits are filtering through to the grassroots people, but programmes designed to promote multiracialism remain a challenge.

The charter's objective is to rebuild Fiji into a non-racial, culturally vibrant and united, well-governed and truly democratic nation. When completed, it will be the foundation document that will set out commitments for change and reform, and the new constitution to be introduced by 2013 will be based on recommendations of the charter.

(o) Cafe Pacific | Media freedom and transparency: Human rights or corruption? Trotting out the real Fiji issues

Read David Robie's blog Cafe Pacific for how some people saw the media coverage of  the recent UN Geneva Human Rights conference. Link. This is what I had to say:
The real Fiji issue here is not human rights (though some, affecting very few people, have been abused). The real issue is the abuse of " media rights"   that have been allowed, if not encouraged, to so distort the situation in Fiji, past and present. -- Photo AUT.

(o+) Please Prime Minister

Please Prime Minister!

Another appeal for better government PR

Photo: Fiji Sun.  The PM visited Ra after Kadavu.

In Kadavu last week PM Bainimarama announced he would retire in 2014. Some media took this to mean he would retire to his dalo teitei. It was then announced he would retire as PM but not as head of the RFMF. 

My understanding always was that this is what he meant in the first place.  He had said as much on earlier occasions. But he did not say so on this occasion. And a carelessly expressed, translated  or poorly reported remark has once again been welcomed by his

detractors.

Radio NZInternational was off the mark quickly to say you're retiring. It took just one phone call to Canberra  to ask Jonathon Fraenkel to make another of his expert "perhaps" statements. “Perhaps," he said,  "the different messages that we keep getting in these meetings Bainimarama organises around the country [he's actually touring the  provinces. The first PM to do so outside election times] are a sign that they are having to come to grips, what are they all about, what are they doing, what do they really intend for the future in Fiji.” Make of that what you will.   Link.

Then FijiVillage said you're not retiring. Link. And The Sydney Morning Herald said  you'll retire from the military as well, but cites no sources.  Link. And so it went on: retiring, not half retiring, not retiring.

In all probabiIity the PM spoke in Fijian in a context understood by those those listening. Just as probably a journalist translated it into English, omitting the context. That's probably how it all started. And it is this story that was allowed to circulate without official clarification for several days! 

Please, Prime Minister, better public relations are needed to "win hearts and minds" and isolate your opponents. This is why even armies have their own press corp. They seek strategic advantage on all fronts. You owe it to yourself, and Fiji. Appoint a press corp of experienced PR advisers and journalists. 

They would certainly make my life easier!

(-) Fiji and the The Epoch

Military Ruler Tests the Boundaries

I'm forever amazed at where news on Fiji turns up, and what it too often says. Reporter Julia Huang in NY-based The Epoch made at least eight errors or unsupportable statements in her recent report.
1. The military is planning to oversee any newly elected government. Could be, but only by keeping government to the Constitution.
2. Bainimarama has exiled many of his critics. A small number of foreigners and Fiji-born critics who have renounced their Fiji citizenship have been deported or refused entry. But exiled and not many.
3. He intends to draft a new constitution. Along with many others!
4. Regions opposed to Bainimarama have been forced to apology. Fijian custom, no force, and one or two tikina (districts) not the four main regions.
5. He has cancelled the pensions of those opposing his government, including form PM Rabuka. These are parliamentary pensions funded entirely by government, not the general contributory pensions paid to civil servants and others on retirement. So far only one pension has been cancelled: Rabuka, who led the first Fiji coup in 1987 and ceased being PM over ten years ago.
6. Rev. Yabaki said this would cut off people's food line and starve those against Government.  The statement was a reaction to false news spread by Fiji media misunderstanding and anti-government bloggers.
7. Ms Huang repeats Apolosi Bosi's dated, biased and exaggerated statements made on behalf of Amnesty International.
8. She quotes American Professor of Political Studies (not History) Steve Hoadley who thinks Leweni's nomination is Bainimarama "trying to provoke a fight" with NZ. Sounds good for the media but hardly an academic's evaluation.

And who and what is Epoch Times?

American reviewers see it as Falun Gong in disguise and "somewhat paranoid". Virulently anti-Chinese government, it is published in 30 countries and 11 languages. It claims the 2008 Sichuan earthquake was caused by a Red Army nuclear explosion, and the Shenzhou 7 Spacewalk was filmed under water to distract attention from the babies' Milk Scandal in which NZ company Fonterra was unknowingly implicated. If you believe this, you’d believe anything – even on Fiji. But, more times than not, the world’s mainstream media, ensures it’s in good company. Source: Google, Epoch Times.

"Troubled Fiji Still a Tourist Paradise"

AAP/Fairfax senior journalist Miles Godfrey recently spent a few days in Fiji courtesy of the airline V Australia and the international luxury hotel chain Sofitel. He reported a huge upturn in tourism and urged his readers to “definitely go to Fiji - it is one of the most interesting, friendly places in the world. But [he wrote] if you do one thing, take a second (sic!) to understand what has happened to this nation over the last three years.” Here, mostly in his words, is his list:

Overthrown of democratically elected Fijian government; scrapped Fiji's constitution in favour of rule by military junta, delayed elections, sacked elected ministers, introduced heavy media censorship and ousted Australian and New Zealand diplomats.

Poverty still blights ordinary Fijians. Tin shacks, third-world living conditions and low wages remain common; an orphanage full of children … one of dozens of orphanages across the islands. Nearby Sofitel help out but it's a sign of the political difficulties that they don't donate cash because it would simply "disappear." And a Sigatoka Valley village where “is quite confronting to see the sheer basic level of living standards.”

A further problem, the CIA accuses Fiji of being a source of child sex trafficking, saying the government has taken no action to remedy the situation. [In fact, the new Crime Decree 2009 specifically addresses this issue.]

Local farmers have struggled to use the land properly for years, often failing to rotate crops or use modern growing techniques, they [“senior tourism workers”] say. There are moves to remedy this, with the introduction of farming schools and within the larger resorts, the employment of quality overseas chefs.

Having pondered these problems [that existed long before the 2006 Coup, and about which the Bainimarama Government is taking steps to address] Godfrey advises readers: “And then get on with having the time of your life.”

Surprising what you can learn in a few seconds. Who said Europeans can sometimes, without even thinking, be so patronising.                         Photo: Fiji Times.


Postscript. For some positive results of tourism, click  here.

(o) Snippets: Soccer, NZ Sanctions Poll Results, Fiji National University, Parachute Journalism, Civil Servants, Qoliqoli, Crime and FNPF Reforms, Court Cases (Qarase, Dorsami Naidu), NLTB, School Bus Fares, Ethanol

 The starred (*) items are all part of the "Roadmap"

How Fiji Beat NZ at Soccer, and Lost Before the Game
In 2007, FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) was forced to cancel the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa qualifying match between New Zealand and Fiji, following the New Zealand government’s refusal to grant a visa to Fiji goalkeeper Simione Tamanisau (Photo Stuff.co.nz). In order to maintain the integrity of the competition in the Oceania zone, FIFA made the decision to call off the encounter, which would finally take place a year later in November 2008. In the meantime, the Kiwis had secured their qualification for the next round, which may have rendered the result meaningless, but not the decision to postpone the original fixture, as Fiji earned a 2-0 victory on the day.

Fiji Live Poll. "Should the New Zealand government continue sanctions against Fiji while trying to normalise diplomatic relations?" Yes 32%; No 68%. This non-representative poll seems to indicate a "core" 32% opposition to Government which would be consistent with earlier polls.

Fiji National University This Fiji Times article provides details on the new university.

Sanjay Ramesh in Suva on Parachute Journalism. Link.

Some 2230 Civil Servants have retired since the implementation of the retirement policy last April, of which 250  were re-engaged to ensure continuity or because of scarce skills.

*The Public Service Disciplinary Tribunal is meeting on a regular basis to deal with disciplinary cases of civil servants. Commission chairman Josefa Seruilagilagi said there had been an increase in the number of disciplinary cases being submitted. The Tribunal comprises former teacher and retired magistrate Aminiasi Katonivualiku (Chair); former chair of the Publi Service Appeals Board Kangwai, and Jack Valentine a retired government accountantand a public trustee for a number of years.

* Background on Proposed Qoliqoli Foreshore Reforms. Link.

* New Crimes Decrees. The Crimes Decree, the Criminal Procedure Decree and the Sentencing and Penalties Decree represent Fiji’s first substantive reform of the criminal justice system for one hundred years.Crimes against humanity and of people smuggling will be punishable; rape will be gender neutral. Special provisions will be made for vulnerable witnesses. The decrees will ensure that sentences areconsistent and proportionate to the offence.

* Reform of Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF) Underway. Fiji will study the highly successful Singapore fund, and adapt to local conditions.

* The FICAC Corruption and Misuse of Office Court Case against former PM Laisenia Qarase and former Fijian Holdings CEO Sitiveni Weleilakeba has been adjourned until 23 February.The prosecution "wants more time to consolidate
conspiracy charges" and the defence wants more time to consider the implications of consolidation.

* Fiji Law Society President Dorsami Naidu today (18 January) appeared before the Independent Legal Services Commission facing 9 separate counts of unsatisfactory professional conduct. The hearing date is set for 19 April. The case against Suva lawyer Haroon Ali Shah, who is facing 20 separate charges of unsatisfactory professional conduct was also called this morning. Shah failed to appear before Commissioner John Connors despite being given reasonable notice that the matterwill be called today.

* The Native Land Trust Board has announced new appointments in its managerial positions as a result of an internal review conducted last year. General Manager Alipate Qetaki said Solo Nata had been appointed as Acting Deputy General Manager Operations,a post previously held by Meli Benuci who was sacked last year. Nata is an expert in Land Management.Qetaki the NLTB needed better trained staff, especially in land management valuation and land survey. Boundary disputes, mainly due to lack of land surveying expertise, had been a problem for many years. Qetaki said technical training will be a high priority this year. Savenaca Ralagi has been appointed Acting Manager Central/Eastern Division and Rota Lenati Acting Senior Estates Officer Central/Eastern Region. It is noted that all three are acting appointments, presumably to allow the Board to make changes later.

School Bus Fares. Only those parents whose joint income is below $15,000 and who apply for and are granted exemption will have free bus fares for their children when school opens in February.

Ethanol. A minimum of 30,000 tons of tavioka (cassava) and 8,000 hectares of land,will be required monthly to establish a Fiji ethanol presence. Sir James Ah Koy says the proposed project should result in immense benefits to ethnic Fijians who own most of the land.