Transcript
ROBIN NAIR: I know that they've been received with hostility whenever they've raised any issues of human rights or any issues of governance especially governance in parliament and they have found it difficult to communicate with Fiji and sometimes you might feel, or you might think, that Fiji doesn't understand where Australia and New Zealand is coming from but there needs to be some confidence building but at the same time there needs to be further thought given to what degree and how to proceed further with quiet diplomacy. But I 'm not advocating anything, escalating it to any other level apart from dialogue.
SALLY ROUND: Are you saying don't be put off, keep going at what you're doing?
RN: That's right. Keep doing what they're doing ... there are nuances in quiet diplomacy ... but to make sure at every senior level they've got an opportunity to talk to the Fijian government that they do take the opportunity to make these points. Whether it be conversation about development or whether it be conversation about some particular bilateral issue, I think they must inject this into their conversations with Fiji. To some extent the EU (European Union) are doing this quite, I wouldn't say effectively, but they're trying to bring, talk about the present domestic situation or how democracy is evolving in Fiji.
SR: Given that the Bainimarama government has developed other partners - China, India and so on - does it really care about the relationship with New Zealand and Australia?
RN: I think they do care about the relationship but at the same time they've become quite hostile and arrogant towards Australia and New Zealand when they bring up these issues. When they don't talk about these issues they feel very comfortable, they feel quite friendly about it but I think that this is because of their past experience because, as you correctly say, they've expanded, they've widened their diplomacy or relationships away from the traditional, not quite away, probably in addition to their traditional partners and they've got relationships quite developed with some of the other countires to the north, as they call it Look North policy and from that point of view , you're right, they feel much more comfortable because they've weathered the harsher rhetoric from Australia and New Zealand, or harsher measures from Australia and New Zealand so they feel quite confident to ignore those calls from Australia and New Zealand.
