Acting Australian High Commissioner to Fiji Glenn Miles is denying that the Australian government has been working behind the scenes and trying to block UN peacekeeping operations for Fiji and development loans from the World Bank and the ADB.
Fijivillage has questioned Miles why the Australian government has tried to block the loans and peacekeeping operations.
Miles admits that they have consultations with these multi lateral bodies on a number of issues but he said specific representations have not been made.
Miles said the ADB and the World Bank is now doing preliminary studies on how it can support Fiji.
He said Australia is supporting this move.
However, in an earlier interview with Fijivillage, Fiji’s Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama said the Australian government is not behaving like a friend as it is trying to hurt Fiji.
Fijivillage has analyzed a number of statements on whether Australia has lobbied for decisions to be made against Fiji.
In 2009, it was clearly stated and widely reported when Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced that his government had successfully lobbied the United Nations to ban future deployments of Fijian troops in UN peacekeeping missions.
At the time, Rudd had said that the UN will not engage future or new Fijian troops for new operations.
However, this is now unsuccessful as the UN has acknowledged Fiji’s peacekeeping efforts and more than 500 Fiji soldiers are now serving in the Golan Heights.
On June 22nd, 2007, Fiji’s Interim Finance Minister at the time, Mahendra Chaudhry had accused Australia of trying to sabotage Fiji’s economy by undermining Fiji’s loan arrangements with world lenders.
At the time Chaudhry said Australia has also tried to undermine Fiji’s economy through multilateral institutions like the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
He said Australia was effectively blocking Fiji’s systems of loan arrangements through these banks to Fiji.
In May this year, an Australian economist also said publicly that Australia has been secretly vetoing loans to Fiji from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank since the coup in 2006.
Stephen Howes from the Australian National University’s Development Policy Centre said there has been no lending from either institution since December 2006.
We have requested an interview with Australian Foreign Minister, Senator Bob Carr on these matters.
Questions have been sent to Carr’s office in Canberra through the Australian High Commission.
However, we have not received a reply on whether Carr will speak to us.
Story by: Vijay Narayan
Has Australia lobbied against Fiji?
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