Colonel Naliva Sidelined to College for Research
Republic of Fiji Military Forces Colonel Penioni Naliva is no longer deputy commander with the Australian Army 7th Brigade, based in Brisbane.
This was confirmed by Minister for Home Affairs and Immigration, Pio Tikoduadua.
In February, questions emerged of Colonel Naliva’s appointment following a front page article by The Australian relating to allegations where Colonel Naliva was involved in the violent beatings of two Fijian politicians in 2006.
The RFMF had stood by Colonel Naliva and rejected the accusations labelled against him as there had not been any formal reports lodged with the Fiji police. Mr Tikoduadua said he was now posted at the Australian Defense College undertaking Pacific- related research projects.
He said the new posting was part of its ongoing dialogue between the Fijian government and Australia.
“Colonel Naliva is initially assigned to this new role for a period of one year,” he said.
“Following that, his assignment will be reviewed based on the project’s needs and his contributions.”
“This position allows him to contribute significantly to our collective understanding and cooperation in the Pacific region.”
Last December, Colonel Naliva earned the Fellow of the Defence and Strategic Studies Course Certificate from the Australian War College in Canberra coupled with a Master of National Security and Strategy (Leading International Policy) from Deakin University.
Immigration services
Meanwhile, in its bid to improve the services of the Immigration Department, Mr Tikoduadua said they were enhancing training programmes and increasing staffing in critical areas to handle applications more efficiently.
He said the backlog extended over the past six months because of unprecedented demand and operational adjustments.
However, with concerted efforts, they had reduced the backlog extensively.