Not a holiday - MPs in the Pacific: Day Four

This is part four of five on the Speaker-led delegation to Tonga and Fiji. For the other parts, click here. To hear why these trips happen, click here. 

A junket, the internet tells me, is a dish of sweetened and flavoured curds of milk. 

It’s also an “extravagant trip or celebration, in particular one enjoyed by government officials at public expense”.

New Zealand Members of Parliament often travel overseas to meet with their diplomatic counterparts but what they actually do there is a bit of a mystery. 

So I asked to follow a group to see if they’re travelling for “sweetened curds of milk”, or if they’re working to represent New Zealand.

Delegation members: National MP Jo Hayes, Tim MacIndoe, Harete Hipango, Labour MP Adrian Rurawhe, and Speaker Trevor Mallard.

Day Four: Thursday in Suva, Fiji

9am - Parliament to Parliament Talanoa

The first event for today is a three hour session with the NZ MPs and Fiji MPs to talk about the future relationship between the two parliaments, peer-to-peer partnerships, talking to members of the public, how to whip MPs, and work across parties. 

It’s an open session with MPs invited to ask questions on these topics but also other issues they’d like to discuss including the use of indigenous languages in Parliament and live streaming debates and committees.

Opposition MP Salote Radrodro says the New Zealand delegation’s presence does more than just strengthen inter-parliamentary friendships.

“This forum, we call it talanoa but in actual fact it’s exchanging of ideas, exchanging views and particularly bringing in both sides of Fiji’s parliament into the same room and not being confrontational. I really do welcome that opportunity” she says.

12pm - Tour of Fiji Parliament

The walls and tables are made of Fijian hardwood called yaka. On each desk is a photo of the MP who sits there. 

There are many similarities to New Zealand’s debating chamber. The seats are arranged in a U-shape with the Speaker’s chair at the far end. 

There’s a mace which sits on the table in the centre but there are fewer MPs in this Parliament - 51 compared to New Zealand’s 120 -  and the public gallery above for people to watch the proceedings is at one end whereas New Zealand’s chamber is surrounded.

The New Zealand MPs agree it makes for a more intimate feel.

“It’s impressive, I like the fact its blending tradition,” says National MP Harete Hipango. 

“There’s an element of intimacy about it, although politics isn’t always intimate is it? But I think it’s also conducive to good engagement.”

12:30pm - Lunch

The next meeting is lunch at the New Zealand High Commissioner's residence in Fiji. 

It’s on an elevated piece of land offering views to the east of Laucala Bay. 

A breeze is blowing in through the french doors, further back across the grounds coconut palms sway and we’re able to see the solar panels on the roof of the University of the South Pacific. 

There’s a shaded balcony to enjoy the view out of the sun and cool drinks to refresh the group.

This is a good place to relax, so naturally the New Zealand delegation and women Fiji MPs at lunch are talking about rubbish dumping issues in their home towns where used diapers are being left in gardens and streets.

They’re also talking about water quality and the reduced health of fish stocks as pollution seeps into waters, and the viability of turning plastic into usable materials for roads and roofs. 

Classic lunch chat. 

But that’s what this lunch is for and after the presentation of a women’s suffrage camellia pin to each woman Fiji MP,  the group gets into a van for the next meeting. 

2:30pm - The Supervisor of Elections 

Fiji’s political history is complex but best known internationally for its coups. There have been four in the past thirty years. The most recent was in 2006 and led by Frank Bainimarama, Fiji’s current Prime Minister. 

While the relationship between New Zealand and Fiji is good now, it hasn’t always been: a request for support from ousted Prime Minister Qarase in 2006 was rejected by the NZ Government which later condemned the coup and also tried to hold negotiations between Qarase and Bainimarama. 

At one point New Zealand’s acting high commissioner in Fiji was expelled and New Zealand followed suit with the Fijian counterpart here. 

In 2013 Fiji’s Constitution was signed into law and the following year, the country held its first election since the 2006 coup.

Mohammed Saneem is the Supervisor of Elections in Fiji which is similar to New Zealand’s Electoral Commission.

Its main focus is the registration of voters, parties, and candidates and running the election process.

Mr Saneem has overseen both the 2014 and 2018 elections. He’s a former lawyer and has joined international observer missions for elections in Bougainville, Vanuatu, and Tonga. 

New Zealand supported the Fiji Electoral Commission and Elections office preparations for the 2018 election in the form of a four-year technical support programme worth $5.5m.

“The clarity here is that it’s not involvement. New Zealand’s technical consultants provide technical advice and support,” says Mr Saneem. 

“It’s always the call of the host election management body and so far we’ve found that the technical support provided by the experts from New Zealand has been excellent.”

He says running an election means dealing with 10,000 staff for just one day and the experience and expertise of New Zealand’s consultants is useful in that regard. 

“I think the support New Zealand provides to Fiji as well as the regional election management bodies is instrumental in delivering elections based on international norms so that it may be acceptable not only in the country but globally as well and that’s what has happened.”

Misconceptions about Fiji’s democracy are more prevalent in foreign media than at home says Mr Saneem. 

“Speaking on the topic of elections, most of the time if you want to see misconceptions from outside of Fiji it’s created by certain media outlets that tend to publish half baked stories, they fail to do proper research,” he says.

“There are some media outlets that cannot digest that elections are run quite properly. And because they have previously held a view in this regard they cannot now suddenly show the elections in a more accurate light because that would mean it’s positive.”

3pm - Breast cancer awareness fundraiser 

“Who will love my children like me?” a breast cancer survivor asks as she tells MPs, Ministers, doctors, and CEOs how she was diagnosed with cancer. 

She stands at the front of the room at Fiji’s Parliament which has been covered in pink ribbons and balloons. 

October is breast cancer awareness month in Fiji and everyone here is dressed in pink shirts, pink dresses, pink blouses, and pink jackets.

After a quick wardrobe change at Fiji’s Parliament, the New Zealand MPs are blending in nicely with bright pink bula shirts and scarves.  

But the NZ group wouldn’t even be here if the Fijian Women MPs coordinating this fundraiser hadn’t had the chance to persuade them at an event the day before. 

Now that they are, they’ve heard from a doctor who’s treated women that waited so long to seek help that their breasts were rotting. 

They’ve heard from a cancer survivor whose husband left her when he learned of her illness. 

And they heard how there’s a fear of modern medicine in Fiji which is preventing women from seeking help until it’s too late. 

“It’s about the balance of our traditional healing methods but we also must embrace our modern medicine,” says National MP Harete Hipango. 

“There is a huge problem of fear of going to the doctor,” responds Fiji MP Lenora Qereretabua.

“There’s a fear of going under the knife, there’s also the challenges of just the distances that people need to travel versus their income.” 

Harete says politicians have a level of influence in making these services available.

“When I served as a governance member on our regional district health board, it was really important, in terms of accessing the service, it was about us going out to our people in the community.” 

Fiji has three official languages, English, Fijian and Hindi and Lenora says speaking the languages of various communities is important if you want to raise cancer awareness. 

“You could go out to a village in the Highlands and they wouldn’t speak English,” she says.

“So it’s great to have a Doctor who is from the Highlands who can speak the dialect but we need more of that.”

4pm - Opposition leaders 

Three parties are currently represented in Fiji’s Parliament. 

• Fiji First led by Prime Minister Bainimarama (27 seats)

• Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA) led by Sitiveni Rabuka (21 seats)

• National Federation Party led by Biman Prasad (3 seats)

This is a meeting with the leaders of the opposition parties, SODELPA, and the National Federation Party. 

After the MPs chat I ask the National Federation Party leader Biman Prasad if it’s appropriate for New Zealand to be present in Fiji.

“New Zealand has always been a valued partner; no matter who is in Government, who is in opposition, what kind of democracy we have, the people to people relationship is very strong,” he says. 

“But we are also saying that the engagement should be based on mutual understanding, mutual recognition of the ideals of democracy which is very dear to the people in New Zealand and equally dear to the people of Fiji,”

Mr Prasad says if there’s a weakening of democracy in Fiji then New Zealand should be concerned.

That’s all for day four. 

Find day five here. To hear why these trips happen go here.