FIJI'S EXPULSION OF AUSTRALIAN ENVOY "UNJUSTIFIED": NZ
13 July 2010
Asia Pulse
English
(c) 2010 Asia Pulse Pty Limited
AUCKLAND, July 13 Asia Pulse - Fiji's expulsion of Australia's top diplomat in the South Pacific nation is "completely unjustified and disappointing", New Zealand's foreign minister says.
Murray McCully said expelling Australia's Acting High Commissioner in Fiji, Sarah Roberts, would diminish the already frosty relations between Fiji and other Pacific nations and delay any recovery in the Fijian economy.
"It is also a sign that, despite our best efforts, Fiji still does not place much value on the maintenance of diplomatic relations and dialogue as a means of resolving differences," Mr McCully said in a statement on Tuesday.
Ms Roberts's expulsion, which takes effect on Tuesday, comes after Canberra lobbied for the postponement of a meeting of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) in Fiji at the end of July.
Fiji's Foreign Minister Inoke Kubuabolo said Ms Roberts was being expelled for "unfriendly acts" which led regional leaders to axe the summit.
But Mr McCully said the decision to scrap the MSG meeting wasn't a consequence of pressure from the Australian and New Zealand governments, and expelling Ms Roberts was "counterproductive on almost every level".
"It is deeply insulting to Vanuatu Prime Minister (Edward) Natapei to suggest that his decision to defer the MSG meeting was made because of pressure from New Zealand and Australia," Mr McCully said.
"Prime Minister Natapei needed no help from New Zealand or Australia to work out that democratic principles should prevail within the region."
Ms Roberts is the second senior Australian diplomat to be expelled from Fiji in less than a year after the high commissioner and his New Zealand counterpart were removed last November over alleged interference in Fiji's judiciary.
