It is now clear that not all Australian diplomats and officials were happy with their governments hard line approach towards Fiji after its isolation policies failed following the events of December 5th 2006.
One such diplomat was former Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Islands Affairs Duncan Kerr and according to leaked US embassy cables released by WikiLeaks and provided to The Sunday Age, Kerr last year broke ranks with the then Kevin Rudd government and privately sought to encourage the US towards diplomatic re engagement with Suva.
In an earlier interview with our News Director Vijay Narayan in Canberra, Kerr had stated that Australian sanctions have not achieved the desired results.
According to the revelations by Wikileaks, Kerr appeared sympathetic towards re engaging with Fiji’s Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama.
The embassy said Kerr’s approach was an attempt to spur reevaluation of policy towards Fiji while the Australian government was on cruise control toward increasing disengagement with Fiji, without achieving any desired effect.
But his attempt to stimulate new thinking was undercut by senior Australian diplomats who reaffirmed the government’s hard line policy of isolating Fiji.
Meanwhile, Australia’s hard line policies are driving Fiji’s economy towards collapse while failing in their objective of pressuring Fiji to return to democracy, according to leaked US diplomatic reports by whistle blower website Wikileaks.
The Sydney Morning Herald said Australian policymakers and diplomats had been deeply frustrated with the lack of success of Australia’s efforts to isolate Fiji, but see no viable policy alternatives.
Story by: Roneel Lal
Aust officials frustrated with failed policies on Fiji
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