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ABOUT GRUBSHEET
Grubsheet Feejee is the blogsite of Graham Davis, a dual Fijian-Australian national working as a media and communications specialist in both countries and in other parts of the Asia Pacific.
Graham has had a four decade-long career in the mainstream media in Britain, Australia and Fiji. He has reported for the BBC, ABC, SBS and the Nine and Seven Networks and has written for a range of newspapers and magazines in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. His multiple awards include Walkley and Logie Awards in Australia and a New York Festivals Medal in the United States.
More recently, Graham has been a consultant to the GeoPolitical Solutions division of the global communications company, Qorvis-MSLGROUP, which represents a range of sovereign clients around the world. Part of his brief is to assist the Fijian Government with its program to introduce the first genuine democracy in the nation’s history in 2014.
Graham is broadly supportive of the Bainimarama Government's reform agenda but invites comments from people of all political persuasions. Please don't label your return volley "anonymous". Give yourself a name or pseudonym so that readers can track your progress over time.
Many of these postings have appeared in mainstream newspapers such as The Australian and the Fiji Sun – where Graham has been a columnist - and on other websites, including newmatilda.com and Pacific Scoop NZ.
Feejee is the original name for Fiji - a derivative of the indigenous Viti and the Tongan Fisi - and was widely used until the late 19th century.
RECENT COMMENTS ON GRUBSHEET
- Marlon on # FIJIAN CRAFTED, FIJIAN MADE
- Peter Gee on # THE “GRAND OLD DAME” REVIVED
- Paul Drewes on # THE “GRAND OLD DAME” REVIVED
- Dr Ruth Starke on # A FIJIAN LIFE – DOROTHY KEARSLEY
- Enina on # FIJI KEY TO AMELIA EARHART MYSTERY
Latest Headlines
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![Trawling through the Papua New Guinea media in search of local reaction to the asylum seeker deal with Australia, Grubsheet stumbled upon an article written a few months back by one of the country’s best journalists, Frank Sege Kolma, that pretty neatly sums up the difference between the two countries. It has particular resonance as the Fijian leadership engages in […]](http://web.archive.org./web/20170218083740im_/http://www.grubsheet.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Unknown-1-115x115.jpeg "# A TALE OF TWO NATIONS")
# A TALE OF TWO NATIONS
Posted on July 30, 2013 | 8 CommentsTrawling through the Papua New Guinea media in search of local reaction to the asylum seeker deal with Australia, Grubsheet stumbled upon an article written a few months back by one of the country’s best journalists, Frank Sege Kolma, that pretty neatly sums up the difference between the two countries. It has particular resonance as the Fijian leadership engages in […] -
![“Imagine what the South Pacific would be like in five or six years’ time if there were 50,000 resettled refugees in PNG, and perhaps 10,000 in Vanuatu, 5000 in Solomon Islands and a few thousands elsewhere in the Pacific. These refugees would be Iranians, Iraqis, Afghans, Pakistanis, Palestinians, perhaps some Sudanese and Somalis, and most of them getting some Australian […]](http://web.archive.org./web/20170218083740im_/http://www.grubsheet.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/images-6-115x115.jpeg "# AUSTRALIAN PROBLEM, MELANESIAN SOLUTION")
# AUSTRALIAN PROBLEM, MELANESIAN SOLUTION
Posted on July 25, 2013 | 8 Comments“Imagine what the South Pacific would be like in five or six years’ time if there were 50,000 resettled refugees in PNG, and perhaps 10,000 in Vanuatu, 5000 in Solomon Islands and a few thousands elsewhere in the Pacific. These refugees would be Iranians, Iraqis, Afghans, Pakistanis, Palestinians, perhaps some Sudanese and Somalis, and most of them getting some Australian […] -
![Regular readers of Grubsheet will be aware of our continuing campaign to restore Suva to its former glory, and especially the so-called “Golden Half-Mile”, the area bounded by Government Buildings, the Grand Pacific Hotel, Government House, the Fiji Museum and Thurston Gardens. We derive a huge amount of satisfaction from the power of our pen, or keyboard in this instance, […]](http://web.archive.org./web/20170218083740im_/http://www.grubsheet.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/D7K8979-115x115.jpeg "# CHIMING IN A NEW ERA")
# CHIMING IN A NEW ERA
Posted on July 6, 2013 | 30 CommentsRegular readers of Grubsheet will be aware of our continuing campaign to restore Suva to its former glory, and especially the so-called “Golden Half-Mile”, the area bounded by Government Buildings, the Grand Pacific Hotel, Government House, the Fiji Museum and Thurston Gardens. We derive a huge amount of satisfaction from the power of our pen, or keyboard in this instance, […] -
![The latest and arguably most important phase of the Government’s Fijian Made campaign – Fijian Crafted – is being launched by the Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, in Nadi on Friday. Why is a crafted object more significant than an industrially manufactured item, however excellent or desirable? Because more than anything else, it represents the artistic skills of ordinary Fijians – […]](http://web.archive.org./web/20170218083740im_/http://www.grubsheet.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/images-2-115x115.jpeg "# FIJIAN CRAFTED, FIJIAN MADE")
# FIJIAN CRAFTED, FIJIAN MADE
Posted on June 20, 2013 | 30 CommentsThe latest and arguably most important phase of the Government’s Fijian Made campaign – Fijian Crafted – is being launched by the Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, in Nadi on Friday. Why is a crafted object more significant than an industrially manufactured item, however excellent or desirable? Because more than anything else, it represents the artistic skills of ordinary Fijians – […] -
![Relations between Fiji and Australia have taken yet another turn for the worse with the revelation that Canberra has been secretly blocking Fiji’s access to hundreds of millions of dollars for development projects. A senior Australian academic – Professor Stephen Howes – told The Australian newspaper that the Government had used its muscle to veto loans to Fiji by both […]](http://web.archive.org./web/20170218083740im_/http://www.grubsheet.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Kubuabola_Carr_McCully-115x115.jpeg "# AUSTRALIA’S UNHEALTHY OBSESSION")
# AUSTRALIA’S UNHEALTHY OBSESSION
Posted on June 1, 2013 | 48 CommentsRelations between Fiji and Australia have taken yet another turn for the worse with the revelation that Canberra has been secretly blocking Fiji’s access to hundreds of millions of dollars for development projects. A senior Australian academic – Professor Stephen Howes – told The Australian newspaper that the Government had used its muscle to veto loans to Fiji by both […] -
![In a striking act of philanthropy, the family of the founder of Fiji Airways, Harold Gatty, is making two big donations to local institutions, including $1-million to build a new wing at the Fiji Museum to celebrate the late aviator’s achievements. The money is coming from Harold Gatty’s son, the Wainadoi spice farmer and author, Dr Ronald Gatty, and his […]](http://web.archive.org./web/20170218083740im_/http://www.grubsheet.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/ron-gatty-and-wife-janette-01-115x115.jpg "# GATTY’S $2-MILLION GIVEAWAY")
# GATTY’S $2-MILLION GIVEAWAY
Posted on June 1, 2013 | 6 CommentsIn a striking act of philanthropy, the family of the founder of Fiji Airways, Harold Gatty, is making two big donations to local institutions, including $1-million to build a new wing at the Fiji Museum to celebrate the late aviator’s achievements. The money is coming from Harold Gatty’s son, the Wainadoi spice farmer and author, Dr Ronald Gatty, and his […] -
![The 26th anniversary of the first 1987 Coup has revived some traumatic memories for many of us who lived through it – the shock, the air of menace, the violence, the feeling that Fiji would never be the same again. Tens of thousands of our best and smartest people simply decided there and then that there was no future for […]](http://web.archive.org./web/20170218083740im_/http://www.grubsheet.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Unknown-4-115x115.jpeg "# THE NATIONAL TRAUMA OF MAY 1987")
# THE NATIONAL TRAUMA OF MAY 1987
Posted on May 14, 2013 | 90 CommentsThe 26th anniversary of the first 1987 Coup has revived some traumatic memories for many of us who lived through it – the shock, the air of menace, the violence, the feeling that Fiji would never be the same again. Tens of thousands of our best and smartest people simply decided there and then that there was no future for […] -
![The Government’s cyber critics have been blindsided by the announcement that all three former major political parties – Labour, the National Federation Party and SODELPA, the former SDL – have been cleared to contest the 2014 election. The declaration by the Registrar of Elections, Mohammed Saneem, that all three entities had cleared the hurdle came last Thursday. Yet as of […]](http://web.archive.org./web/20170218083740im_/http://www.grubsheet.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Unknown-3-115x115.jpeg "# ECONOMIES WITH THE TRUTH (UPDATED 12/5)")
# ECONOMIES WITH THE TRUTH (UPDATED 12/5)
Posted on May 8, 2013 | 55 CommentsThe Government’s cyber critics have been blindsided by the announcement that all three former major political parties – Labour, the National Federation Party and SODELPA, the former SDL – have been cleared to contest the 2014 election. The declaration by the Registrar of Elections, Mohammed Saneem, that all three entities had cleared the hurdle came last Thursday. Yet as of […] -
![The Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama, has spoken of waging a “battle of ideas” to win next year’s election in Fiji after all three major established parties – Labour, the National Federation Party, and SODELPA, the former SDL – were cleared to register as political entities to contest the poll. Commodore Bainimarama restated his intention to form his own party to […]](http://web.archive.org./web/20170218083740im_/http://www.grubsheet.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/images-2-115x115.jpeg "# THE “BATTLE OF IDEAS” BEGINS")
# THE “BATTLE OF IDEAS” BEGINS
Posted on May 3, 2013 | 27 CommentsThe Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama, has spoken of waging a “battle of ideas” to win next year’s election in Fiji after all three major established parties – Labour, the National Federation Party, and SODELPA, the former SDL – were cleared to register as political entities to contest the poll. Commodore Bainimarama restated his intention to form his own party to […] -
![There’s elation in Fijian Government circles over the highly successful outcome of this week’s visit to Papua New Guinea by the Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama, at the head of the biggest Fijian trade and investment mission ever to visit another country. The original aims of the visit were ambitious enough – to lay more of the foundation for the […]](http://web.archive.org./web/20170218083740im_/http://www.grubsheet.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Unknown-1-115x115.jpeg "# THE PACIFIC AXIS SHIFTS")
# THE PACIFIC AXIS SHIFTS
Posted on April 19, 2013 | 64 CommentsThere’s elation in Fijian Government circles over the highly successful outcome of this week’s visit to Papua New Guinea by the Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama, at the head of the biggest Fijian trade and investment mission ever to visit another country. The original aims of the visit were ambitious enough – to lay more of the foundation for the […]