Fiji push for Forum exclusion of Aus, NZ labelled futile

Transcript

The deputy leader of Fiji's opposition says moves to exclude Australia and New Zealand from the Pacific Islands Forum make little sense.

The Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has indicated that Fiji may not re-join the Forum as an active member unless it is re-structured without the region's two metropolitan powers.

However Dr Biman Prasad told Johnny Blades that this position is futile and that the time is right for Fiji to build bridges in its diplomatic links.

BIMAN PRASAD: Well I think Fiji's position is wrong. It lacks economic logic, it lacks understanding of the historical ties with Australia and New Zealand. I think Fiji's demand for Australia and New Zealand to be out of the Forum is unreasonable. What the Fiji government should do to build relationships with our traditional partners, while we are building relationships with other countries. That's not a problem. But I think we cannot ignore traditional partners, Australia and New Zealand, we have strong people-to-people relationships, we have strong economic relations with these two countries. And it doesn't make sense for Fiji to push the agenda unnecessarily of trying to keep Australia and New Zealand out of the Forum.

JOHNNY BLADES: Your Prime Minister has cast the net pretty wide, do you think there is room for maybe Japan or China, countries like that in the Forum?

BP: Many of the development partners have observer status and I think its serving the Pacific Forum, Pacific countries well. It's up to the Pacific leaders to decide in the future if they want to include more of these partners as full members. But for the time being the demand from Fiji for Australia and New Zealand not to be part of the Forum is unreasonable. It's going to be bad for Fiji.

JB: Are you alone in thinking that in your parliament or do you think most of your MPs feel that way?

BP: Well that's the opposition view and we believe that it's an entirely futile exercise that the Fijian government is now undertaking and articulating a view which suggests that Australia and New Zealand should not be part of the Forum. I think the focus ought to be to build ties with Australia and New Zealand. We've had seven or eight years of bad diplomatic history because of the coup in Fiji and in my view, Australia and New Zealand's position with respect to bringing back democracy in Fiji was the right one, was the right thing to do. So we shouldn't be complaining about that. Let's look ahead, let's build relationship and let's move on.