Bob Carr (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Australia greatly values its relations with Fiji. We are a partner and a close friend. We have worked with Fiji in difficult times and we have built close defence cooperation. Many of us are familiar with the political situation in that country and the actions of the regime, such as the decision to expel the visiting ILO delegation last year. Much has been written of Fiji's post-1987 coup culture and noted that Fiji stands apart from the rest of the Pacific, which is a community of democracies. All of the Pacific wants a prosperous and democratic Fiji, something I have confirmed in discussions with my counterparts in Papua New Guinea, the Solomons, Samoa, Kiribati, Vanuatu and New Zealand.

The interim government in Fiji is making some progress in its efforts to restore democracy but the setbacks continue. On 15 January there was a decree on political parties. Subsequent amendments to it are as of much concern as the original decree. They include unacceptable conditions on the operation of political parties. There is an extreme regulation of the activities of political parties and their memberships. There are, for example, references to civil society leaders, officers of trade unions and employer associations, and restrictions or prohibitions on what they can do in the political arena. The imposition of penalties—up to five years imprisonment, for example, for media organisations reporting 'incorrectly' on the names of prospective and former political parties—is another example. Strong political parties are indispensable to strong democracies. (Time expired)