Fiji minister attacks ‘despicable examples’ of Kiwis

Suva (The Fiji Sun, Fiji’s Daily Post, The Fiji Times) – Fiji Information Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola has slammed what he calls the patronizing attitude of New Zealand’s Labor-led government. He said its recent actions against Fiji and its citizens will not be easily forgotten.

Ratu Inoke had special criticism for New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clarke and Foreign Minister Phil Goff, calling them “despicable examples of New Zealanders.”

His comments came after statements that a Fiji trade delegation would not be welcome in New Zealand as this would be shown as conferring legitimacy on

Fiji’s interim government. The New Zealand Government has also said it would not issue a visa to Fiji interim government Trade and Investment Minister Tomasi Vuetilovoni, a prominent Suva business executive.

Ratu Inoke said: “When the interim government makes an attempt to restore the country to economic and political stability, the NZ Labor led government, through these two in particular, disrupt or inhibit any of these attempts.”

Fiji Foreign Affairs Minister Kaliopate Tavola is expected to seek explanations from New Zealand’s High Commissioner in Suva of recent statements and actions from his government.

Of Goff, Ratu Inoke said: “Why doesn’t he come out in the open and say that the current NZ Government only wants its Labor counterparts in Fiji to be in power despite the wishes of the nation’s Great Council of Chiefs and president?

“As for Helen Clarke, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, she can congratulate herself for leading a government that perpetuates colonial supremacy in the region.”

Ratu Inoke also criticized the latest travel advisory issued by New Zealand saying it describes the whole of the country as being “unstable and unpredictable.”

Fiji’s tourism industry has been pointing out that recent problems have been concentrated in the Suva area in south-eastern Viti Levu. The tourism areas of the country are unaffected, it points out. The tourism resorts are concentrated in the west of the country and in outlying islands far from Suva. The country’s main international airport, at Nadi, is also in the west.

“This advisory is again a reflection of the typically negative and narrow mentality in the corridors of NZ’s government,” Ratu Inoke said.