The limits placed on journalists covering Nauru summit

Transcript

GIA GARRICK: As far as that side of things, obviously we had the restrictions on our visas when we arrived here in the country so there has been a number of restrictions put around reporting while we are here. But in his opening remarks the president of Nauru Baron Waqa said that the refugees lived harmoniously in the community and he invites people to, essentially, didn't say but insinuated that he invited people to come and talk to these refugees to see that they are living harmoniously - they are not detained, they are not living in the prison-like facilities that the refugee advocates consistently tell foreign media. And so he has insinuated that everything is fine when it comes to those refugees so he hasn't stopped anybody from talking to them. However we did have a warning I guess that there was some displeasure or unrest from the Nauru government about the New Zealand reporting while we are here. We had an MFAT official sit the seven of us down, or actually it was the six of us minus Barbara, she wasn't back at this stage, sit us down and tell us that the Nauru government would like to pass on a message to us that it would prefer if we reported on the Forum instead of just focussing on the one issue here. The government felt that we had not been reporting on the Forum to its satisfaction and been focussing on the wrong issues and so he wanted to pass on that it would be going against our visa conditions should we be going into these refugee camps and it was just a few hours later that Barbara Dreaver was detained or was taken to the police station.

DON WISEMAN: The group of journalists that's there, obviously a pretty small group. Do you think Barbara's detention is going to deter people from trying to get into those camps?

GIA GARRICK: That's unclear, at this stage it's all a bit fresh so we've all just been told this. There have been people going out and speaking with people thus far, whether that will stop I'm not sure. We're all assessing the situation as it comes. We're all waiting and seeing a little bit at the moment. Of course the main leaders retreat day is tomorrow and the prime minister [Jacinda Ardern] arrives here so we'll be hearing from her shortly also.