The Australian Defense Forces Chief, Air Marshall Angus Houston did call Interim Prime Minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama to strongly discourage him from deposing the democratically elected government in December last year.

While responding to Commodore Bainimarama's statement to Village News earlier this week, a spokesperson at the Australian Department of Defense confirms that the defense chief spoke to Bainimarama but at no time a threat was issued to him.

The spokesperson said Bainimarama's statement is untrue and at no time did Australia plan to use military force to prevent or reverse a coup.

The defense department goes on to say that Australia's deployment of naval forces in the vicinity of Fiji at the time of the coup was exclusively as a precautionary measure in case there was a need to evacuate Australian citizens.

Commodore Frank Bainimarama had earlier told Village that he received a call from the Australian Defense Force Chief, when he was in Sinai, just days before December 5th, 2006.

The Interim PM said that he was allegedly told by Air Chief Marshall Houston that he was not to do anything that would make him pit his soldiers against the Fiji soldiers. Bainimarama said that was definitely a threat.