Fiji leader’s return a milestone: PM
Ardern welcomes Bainimarama’s presence at forum
The return of controversial Fijian leader Frank Bainimarama to the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) is an important milestone, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says.
Ardern made the comments ahead of her three-day trip to Tuvalu for the annual event.
She touches down today and has several bilateral and trilateral meetings planned ith Pacific leaders before returning to New Zealand on Friday night.
The Fiji Prime Minister has boycotted the event since 2009, the year leaders at the forum suspended Fiji’s interim Government after it seized power in a military coup and refused to hold democratic elections.
Bainimarama vowed not to attend until the issue of Australia’s “undue influence” at the forum was addressed.
In a 2015 speech he said the Australian Government “seems intent on putting its own immediate economic interests first”.
The relationship between the nations has improved since then and Bainimarama has a seat at the table this year.
Speaking ahead of the trip, Ardern said the Fiji Prime Minister’s presence at the forum was an “important milestone”.
“The chance to have him back at PIF is something that is being welcomed with much anticipation.”
Ardern said she has met
Bainimarama several times since she became Prime Minister, including at the United Nations last September.
In a tweet at the time, he said: “Thank you, New Zealand PM [Jacinda Ardern] for bringing your baby girl along to the [UN] General Assembly this week. Having little Neve in the room is a humbling reminder that the world’s leaders must act not for ourselves, but for the future of our children and our planet.”
Ardern said New Zealand’s bilateral relationship with Fiji is strong.
Asked how much influence New Zealand had in getting Bainimarama back at the table, Ardern said she didn’t want to place too much judgment on that.
She would encourage the forum to have all Pacific members at the table.
One of Ardern’s bilateral meetings will be with Bainimarama. She will also meet Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and said that conversation would build on previous talks.
“It’s really a continuation of discussions I recently held with him which, of course, always extends into issues between Australia and New Zealand directly.”
The last time Ardern and Morrison met was in Melbourne last month.
At the time, Ardern said Australian rules that saw people deported to New Zealand — despite the fact they had had very little to do with the country — were having a “corrosive effect with our relationship”.
Despite her lobbying, Australian lawmakers were not swayed and
This will again be the main focus of talks during the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF). Before the formal talks began, Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama was calling on Australia to do more to fight the effects of climate change. NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has also said climate change is an area which will “dominate” the discussions this week.
Just days before the start of the PIF Papua New Guinea asked China to refinance its close to A$12 billion ($12.58b) national debt. This comes as China is looking to shore up more support in the Pacific. China is not a member of the PIF, but Ardern confirmed a Chinese representative will have a presence at the forum, as will the United States.
Drug smuggling in the Pacific has become a growing problem. Last year, hundreds of bricks of cocaine washed up along beaches in Fiji and Tonga and officials says it’s having an adverse impact on the people living on the islands. It’s likely leaders will be discussing how to solve this problem.
gave no indication the rules would change.
However, it’s likely this topic will come up in Tuvalu, because Ardern promised to continue pushing it.
But she said at PIF she and Morrison would probably talk about more regional issues.
“It is the Pacific Islands Forum; no doubt issues around oceans policy and some of those environmental issues and fisheries are likely to be something we discuss when we’re in the region.”