Friday, 14 August 2009
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Fijians Deserve to be Represented by an Elected Government
The following information was released by the office of the Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs of Australia:
Thank you Professor Duncan for your introduction, and to the Australian National University's Crawford School for organising today's update.
I am pleased to be here today to take part in this important discussion about Fiji.
Sadly, it's not a good news story I have to tell.
Since last year's update, the military regime that seized power in a coup in Fiji in December 2006 has continued to show its contempt for the political and human rights and the well being of the people of Fiji.
Over the past year Fiji has suffered as Commodore Bainimarama's regime:
abrogated the 1997 Constitution
introduced emergency measures limiting free speech and other basic human rights
further entrenched the reach of the military into the institutions of state and society, and
heavily curtailed media freedom.
Commodore Bainimarama's 'roadmap' for Fiji, announced in Suva on 1 July, is merely a restatement of his position that elections won't be held until September 2014.
Under the roadmap work won't even begin on a new Constitution until September 2012.
That would see Fiji subject to rule by decree and without a Constitution for more than three years - since the abrogation of the 1997 Constitution on 10 April.
This delay has been rightly condemned by the international community.
Fiji was suspended from the Pacific Island Forum on 2 May this year, following Commodore Bainimarama's failure to abide by the Pacific Island Forum's reasonable deadlines and conditions for elections.
Fiji faces automatic suspension from the Commonwealth on 1 September if it does not commit immediately to a genuine political dialogue which progresses quickly to democratic elections.
Leaders at last week's Pacific Island Forum meeting in Cairns reiterated their dismay at the deteriorating situation in Fiji.
Forum leaders strongly condemned the actions of the military regime and noted the "ongoing erosion to the traditional pillars of Fijian civil society, including churches and chiefs".
Leaders noted their deep concern for the people of Fiji, deploring the recent detention of church leaders and calling for genuine political dialogue.
While maintaining "unanimous and resolute" support for the Forum decisions which led to Fiji's suspension, Forum leaders undertook to engage Fiji on an early return to democracy, including through the Forum's Ministerial Contact Group and the Suva-based Forum-Fiji Joint Working Group.
It is absolutely clear that the best way forward for the people of Fiji is a return democratic governance and respect for the rule of law.
This morning I want to focus on two key problems under the regime: human rights and the worsening economic conditions.
By any measure, the entrenchment of the military government, the abrogation of Fiji's Constitution and the curtailment of media and free speech have constituted a major setback for human rights in Fiji.
Since the December 2006 coup there have been four civilian deaths associated with assaults in custody, and several people have been injured.
The release from prison of former soldiers who had been convicted and sentenced in connection with the death of a civilian is a worrying sign that we may be witnessing the rise of an insidious culture of impunity in Fiji.
In April, Fiji's then President, Josefa Ilolio, implemented a set of Public Emergency Regulations that limited freedom of speech, expanded police powers and curbed media freedom. These restrictions remain in place.
Critics of the regime have been threatened, harassed, detained, questioned and assaulted.
Journalists continue to be harassed, censored and in some cases deported. News outlets are at risk of being shut down if they publish stories deemed negative.
These human rights infringements, on our doorstep, challenge the norms of the international community and rightly draw our opprobrium.
Australia has therefore continued its targeted travel restrictions on Commodore Bainimarama and members of his interim government, high profile coup supporters, senior regime appointees and members of the Fiji military.
And we have suspended those elements of our aid program to Fiji that have been rendered ineffective or compromised by the actions of the military regime.
These responses are not intended to punish the people of Fiji, who remain the innocent victims of a situation not of their making-it is their democratic rights we wish to see restored.
We will continue to exert all reasonable pressure to encourage the regime to organise elections and pave the way for a peaceful return to democracy.
I would now like to turn to the Fijian economy.
The people of Fiji are suffering significant economic hardship as a direct result of the Bainimarama-led coup. Sadly this is not the first time Fiji has suffered economic decline following a coup but there is no doubt that life has got much harder for the people of Fiji over the past year.
The 2009 Economic Survey of Fiji, which is to be unveiled this afternoon, estimates that 41 per cent of Fijian households now live below the poverty line, up from 15 per cent in 1977.
This is a very disturbing trend.
The regime is inclined to place all the blame for its economic predicament on the global recession.
There is little doubt that the global economic recession has impacted on many countries of the Pacific but this explanation of the current situation in Fiji is of course is far from the full picture.
The uncertain political and legal environment emerging from the coup, and subsequent actions by the military regime, have further sapped confidence in Fiji as a country in which to do business.
This is reflected in Fiji's very low growth of 0.2 per cent in 2008, following a severe contraction of 6.6 per cent in 2007, at a time when other economies were performing strongly. The ADB has estimated that growth this year may decline by 0.5 per cent.
Rating agencies have revised down Fiji's long term credit ratings, based on its falling international reserves and poor growth prospects.
A leading specialist on Fiji and the other economies of the Pacific, Dr Satish Chand, has argued persuasively that each coup has pushed Fiji back some three years in terms of economic progress, measured in per capita income. This underlines the tragedy of the 'coup culture' which has developed in Fiji.
Key sources of revenue - the tourist industry, remittances and the sugar industry - have been hard hit.
It's estimated that visitor arrivals declined by 30 per cent in the first quarter of 2009, compared with the corresponding period in 2008.
Remittances from Fiji nationals working abroad are declining as a result of deteriorating employment markets, including in Australia and New Zealand.
In May this year, the European Commission cancelled its
2009 allocation of 24 million Euros to support the restructuring of Fiji's vital sugar industry, as a result of the failure of the Interim Government to meet its obligations to the EU under the Cotonou Agreement to return Fiji to democracy and the rule of law.
Fiji's strained economic circumstance has led to cuts in public service pay and conditions. Around 52,000 people are employed in the public sector. The cuts will impact heavily on employment and service delivery.
To help alleviate the humanitarian impacts of the coup and the global recession, Australia has maintained, and in fact has increased, our development assistance to Fiji.
Despite our strong political differences Australia remains the largest bilateral donor to Fiji with Official Development Assistance (ODA) estimated at $35 million for 2009-10.
We maintain programs in the areas of social protection, financial inclusion, health and education, and support for civil society.
Australia was one of the first countries to rally to Fiji's assistance to respond to the humanitarian impacts of the January floods in Fiji, committing A$3 million in flood relief aid.
It is no one's interest that Fiji suffers from a systemic economic and social collapse.
We, along with our Forum partners, and the international community, stand ready to support a genuine, inclusive, time bound, and independent process to foster a political dialogue within Fiji towards the return to democracy.
It's an outcome we strongly believe should happen sooner rather than later.
At last week's Pacific Island Forum meeting in Cairns, leaders also agreed to commence negotiations on PACER Plus, our prospective new trade and economic agreement.
There is no disputing that Fiji, despite all its difficulties, is a key regional economy.
We will welcome back Fiji as a full participant in PACER Plus negotiations, when the military regime takes concrete steps to return Fiji to democracy and the rule of law.
In the meantime, the Forum has undertaken to keep Fiji informed of developments to permit it to have input during the negotiations.
Leaders agreed that Fiji officials will be briefed in Suva on PACER Plus developments following each negotiating meeting. Fiji officials will have the opportunity to convey their views, which will be presented at the next meeting.
In the meantime, Fiji remains a member of the WTO. Australia has never sought to impose economic sanctions on Fiji.
Fiji has a strong trading relationship with Australia and has benefited from privileged access to the Australian market under existing arrangements including SPARTECA and SPARTECA TCF.
Ladies and gentlemen, Australia has deep links with Fiji, forged over more than a century.
We care what happens to the people of Fiji and we want to be able to continue to support them during these difficult times.
They deserve to be restored to a position where they can choose their own future and live free of the fear and intimidation they currently have to contend with. Commodore Bainimarama has stated he wants a different constitutional order before any new elections. We have never thought that necessary, but Australia has never ruled out changes to the electoral system provided they are reached by fully inclusive processes.
If there are to be changes the people of Fiji, all of them, deserve the opportunity to engage in a genuine, fully inclusive national dialogue to address Fiji's long-standing challenges and achieve sustainable outcomes, rather than having to put up with the efforts of the military regime to impose its will outside of a comprehensive and legitimate political settlement. Delay will not make this easier.
All Fijians deserve to be represented by a government that they elect, and to have a say, once again, in how their country is run.
To this end the Australian Government - with its Pacific and wider international partners - remains ready to do all we can to help.
Thank you.
Ref: States News Service 08-12-09
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