Fiji's military leader and Prime Minister, Voreqe (Frank) Bainimarama. Photo: Selwyn Manning

Pacific Scoop:
Commentary – By Graham Davis

The folly of Australian policy towards Fiji is at the centre of a damning new landmark report that suggests the United States has lost confidence in Canberra’s ability to influence events in the Pacific and counter rising Chinese influence in the region.

It calls for the immediate and unconditional lifting of regional sanctions against Fiji and for Australia to “repair its relationship at the highest level” by re-engaging with the Bainimarama regime through the Pacific Islands Forum.

“It is well past the time to treat this festering regional wound,” it declares. Read more »

Press Release – Ratu Tevita Mara

There is an old saying that “when a thief thief from a thief, there is laughter in heaven”. Today, there is laughter in heaven. And if the heinous Fiji mahogany plantations robbery was not so tragic for the poor, indigenous Fijians and for the … Read more »

Press Release – Ratu Tevita Mara

There is an ancient proverb, attributed to Euripides, which is so applicable to the murderer Bainimarama. It says, “Those whom the Gods wish to destroy, they first make mad”. Here is one example. It is laughable that Fiji’s military junta leader … Read more »

Press Release – Ratu Tevita Mara

21 September 2011 The murderer Bainimarama wants the world to think that he is the head of the ruling Fiji military junta. But this is not true. He is not Fiji’s ruler. After his Coup of 5 December 2006, the murderer Bainimarama recruited a lawyer Aiyaz … Read more »

United Nations Development Fund resident coordinator Knut Ostby and Fiji rugby player Apisalome Ratuniyarawa send a payment to Fiji. Photo: Alex Perrottet / PMC

Pacific Scoop:
Report- By Alex Perrottet

Mobile phones are now putting food on the table in Fiji.

While smart phones may be satiating our desires for more and better gimmicks and applications, it now takes just a humble handset to send money to the Pacific, and recipients don’t even need to go to the bank.

Amid the hype and frenzy of activity last Friday with the merging of the Pacific Islands Forum and the Rugby World Cup, Apisalome Ratuniyarawa, a Fijian rugby player based in Gisborne, sent $500 to a general store in his village of Naitasiri. Read more »

Press Release – Pacific Media Watch

As Pacific correspondent Sean Dorney reports, those who oppose Bainimarama are not allowed any media coverage in Fiji. SD: If you lived in Fiji and your only source of information was a single local national newspaper, the Fiji Sun , you would soon … Read more »

Press Release – Pacific Media Watch Read more »

Fiji Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe 'Frank' Bainimarama. Photo: Scoop

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Alex Perrottet of Pacific Media Watch

In a clear display of Melanesian unity leading up to the Pacific Islands Forum, 11 Pacific nations have gathered to attend the Engaging Fiji meeting in Nadi.

Similar to last year’s meeting at Natadola before the PIF meeting in Vanuatu, Fiji has not only garnered support for its aims but leaders appear to have  agreed on a united front before attending the wider Pacific meeting in Auckland next week.

Fiji’s status is likely to be a point of discussion for the region’s leaders in Auckland, however it remains suspended from the Forum with its only representatives being the rugby players who will receive the focus of attention when the Rugby World Cup kicks off at the end of the week. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

May 12 (BusinessDesk) – The outlook on Fiji’s sovereign credit rating remains ‘negative’, says Moody’s Investors Service, which cites the Pacific Island nation’s poor economic growth prospects and weak rule of law. Read more »

Ousted Australian prime minister, Kevin Rudd, was once heralded as the savior of the Australian Labor Party. The coup to oust him by his 'friends' was swift, ruthless, effective. (Photo by Selwyn Manning, courtesy of Scoop.co.nz.)

Pacific Scoop:
Opinion – By Thakur Ranjit Singh.

Australia’s bloodless ‘democratic’ coup: Lessons for Fiji Labour Party and other third world democracies.

One thing Australia’s politicians have proved – as descendants of the former British penal colony that Australia was – that they can be heartless and ruthless. But kudos to those involved in the Brutus Coup in Australia who swiftly stabbed their “Julius Caesar” to save “Rome”.

It is such a pity similar action could not be undertaken in Fiji where a timely change in leadership by a democratic coup within the Fiji Labour Party may have averted political uprising, consequent George Speight’s treasonous coup and subsequent chain of political instability plaguing the country since 2000. Read more »