KEY POINTS:
Remarks by New Zealand High Commissioner, HE Michael Green, at the Opening Night of the Navua Unity Carnival, Vashist Muni College, Navua, 21 April 2007
Thank you for inviting me to be Chief Guest at the Unity Carnival. I feel very honoured.
I am also very pleased to have a reason to get out of Suva for a while. Since the coup in December I have found it difficult to leave the capital. But Suva, important though it is, is not Fiji. To understand fully what is going on in this country, diplomats need to travel and meet Fiji citizens in other places whose daily pre-occupations are different from those of people who live in Suva. So it is very pleasing to be in Navua.
The theme of your carnival is Uniting the Communities of Fiji. This is a large topic, and a difficult one for an outsider like me. But it is important, and very relevant to what is happening in Fiji today. And my own country is now home to people of increasingly diverse origins and very different cultures. So perhaps I can make a modest contribution to the conversations you are having in this community about bringing together Fijis different peoples and cultures.
New Zealand considers itself to be a close friend and partner of Fiji. The two countries go back a very long way, sharing links through history, culture, migration, business, education, religion and sport as well as through engagement between the two governments across a wide spectrum of issues. The current strains in our relationship are a matter of considerable regret to New Zealanders, the more so as New Zealand Ministers made a serious but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to avert the coup of 5 December 2006.
But New Zealand opposes this coup, as we opposed the coups of 1987 and 2000, because it was unconstitutional, illegal and unjustified. There was no political crisis in Fiji except the one caused by the RFMF, and Fiji faced no problem that could not be resolved by democratic and parliamentary processes.
We believe that each of Fijis coups has done great harm to Fijis political, economic and social structures and conditions. Some people I meet consider this latest coup to be different, and its objectives to be desirable for Fiji. But illegal and unconstitutional methods, including in this case the removal of a validly-elected government by threat of armed force, cannot achieve positive outcomes, however good the intentions of the coup-makers. Those responsible for the 2006 coup say they want to improve Fijis democracy. We say that democracy improves by practising democracy, not by suspending it and removing properly elected governments.
The measures New Zealand took immediately after the coup have been designed to focus on the perpetrators and beneficiaries of the coup. They are not directed at the ordinary citizens of Fiji but even smart sanctions are a blunt instrument that sometimes have unintended effects. There are no New Zealand restrictions on tourism, trade and investment, all of which create and sustain jobs for the people of Fiji. New Zealand development assistance to Fiji continues, with a new focus on delivery through non-governmental channels. When a credible roadmap to restore a lawful democratic regime is in place, including respect for human rights, New Zealand will look to re-engage progressively with Fiji, reviewing the need to maintain its measures.
New Zealand supports democratic constitutional government for Fiji but does not advocate any particular model of democracy. We know from our own experience that democracy evolves and that many workable variants are possible. Whatever model of democracy is in place, it should underpin the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens.
How is this discussion of democracy relevant to your theme of Uniting the Communities of Fiji?
Democracy is a political system that empowers ordinary people to have a say in how they are governed. It starts with people like you working together to make your opinions heard and to achieve the goals that you want for your society. It is about participation in decision-making by ordinary citizens and assertion of their rights to be consulted and heard.
In the absence of a Parliament, and now of the Great Council of Chiefs, there are no proper avenues for Fijis citizens to be consulted about the kind of changes those currently in authority in Suva are proposing to make in a wide range of economic, social and political matters. This means that the degree of public support for specific policies is questionable. And it means that decisions affecting everyone are being made by a small number of people in Suva, according to their own notions of what is good for Fijis people. That is not a recipe for good policy.
Good policy-making requires inputs from communities, individuals and interest groups. It requires consultation, discussion, and debate to ensure that the policies adopted serve the needs of all Fijis citizens. Your community has a right to have its opinions heard on matters of interest to you, and to join other communities in efforts to influence the formulation of policy on those matters. Effective national policies should reflect the shared views of all communities. By uniting the communities of Fiji, you can strengthen Fijis democracy.
I have been told often since I arrived in Fiji that all of Fijis coups have taken place because of mistrust between the countrys two main ethnic groups. There have been other, more specific causes as well, but a fundamental element has been the lack of unity in the community at large and the absence of a common vision for Fiji. This problem is widely recognised but efforts to resolve it have had limited success.
The present administration in Suva appears to believe that entrenched social attitudes can be overcome by directives and guidance from the capital. I think that attitudinal change will come much more slowly, and that it will grow from the bottom up, provided those at the top create the right environment for it to flourish. That will mean getting to the root of the problem establishing why Fijis coup culture persists and finding constructive ways to deal with its causes. At the community level the right environment will be encouraged and strengthened by activities like this carnival in support of community schools like those run by the Vashist Muni Institute in communities like Navua where people of goodwill from all ethnic and social groups work together for a common purpose.
Participation and practical cooperation are essential to success in any community venture. They are also at the heart of a functioning democracy. Cooperative efforts by hard-working people from all around Navua have created this wonderful community occasion for the enjoyment and the benefit of everyone, especially those associated with Vashist Muni Institute.
I look forward to the rest of tonights programme. I wish you well for the remainder of the carnival. Have fun!
