Petro Georgiou (Kooyong, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Would the minister update the House on the latest developments in Fiji? How will the government respond?

Alexander Downer (Mayo, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for Kooyong for his question and his interest. It is clear that that there is what you might describe as a ‘creeping coup’ taking place in Fiji. Commodore Bainimarama is increasingly gaining control of Fiji. I can only say that we in the Australian government regard that as a tragedy. We strongly condemn the attempt to overthrow a democratically elected government—a government that was elected during the course of this year in a free and fair election, as observed by a number of members of this House.

Commodore Bainimarama has given many reasons for wanting to remove a democratically elected government. But I note with interest that one of his reasons—one of his demands—is the dropping of investigations into the commander of the Republic of Fiji military force, Commodore Bainimarama. There are investigations into Commodore Bainimarama himself and other senior officers in relation to the death of five army officers in November 2000. Commodore Bainimarama has continually demanded that the government terminate these investigations. These investigations are being conducted by the Fiji police. If the investigations come to a conclusion and it is then referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions, then that is a matter that should be considered by him. And if there is to be a prosecution, that is a matter that should be considered by a court. That is normal in any law abiding country. But Commodore Bainimarama is demanding—and it is one of his nine or so demands—that these investigations cease, and of course the Prime Minister has refused to do that.

Commodore Bainimarama might like to be reminded that the response from the international community to a coup will be swift and it will be sharp. There will be severe consequences for Fiji’s economy and for its standing internationally if this coup continues. We have made it very clear—as have the New Zealanders, very importantly, as well as the Americans, the British, the EU and others—that we will be taking measures against Fiji. The UN, the Commonwealth and the EU have all urged restraint, but it seems that Commodore Bainimarama is impervious to good advice.

If this coup proceeds and the Prime Minister and his government are forced to resign—and it increasingly looks as though that will be the case—then we will ban all travel to Australia by Commodore Bainimarama, his family and other supporting members of the Republic of Fiji military forces. We will ban all travel to Australia by people and their families who participate in an unconstitutional government that might be set up to replace the democratically elected government. We will also immediately suspend all aspects of our defence cooperation program with Fiji, and we will encourage other countries to impose similar penalties. I know that New Zealand, whose circumstances with Fiji are a little different from ours, will in effect do similar things.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations has warned of implications for the standing of Fiji military personnel in international peacekeeping. The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group will meet to consider Fiji’s suspension from the Commonwealth during the course of next week. I note also that, in October this year, Fiji assumed the chairmanship of the Pacific Islands Forum. It is hard to see, if this coup continues, how Fiji could continue to chair an organisation which has called for the continuation of democratically elected governments. Also, we particularly condemn the activities of the President of Fiji, who appears to have thrown his support behind an illegal coup, instead of upholding the constitution, the rule of law and the democratically elected government.

Finally, in relation to Australians in Suva, those who are concerned about their safety should consider leaving. We have Australian Defence Force personnel at the ready to assist with their departure if that proves to be necessary. At this stage, we do not expect there to be substantial outbreaks of violence which might affect Australians or that Australians will be targeted. But, having said that, we should not be complacent. We should make sure that we focus very much on ensuring that Australians are safe and that we have the assets ready to protect them and to evacuate them if that proves necessary.