Croz Walsh's Blog -- New Zealand and Fiji: How Much Fairer They Could Be

Next N223. JOKE OF THE WEEK.  Radio NZI reports that a Samoan high chief and his family have been banished from their village for not voting for the village candidate endorsed by PM Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi.

PM Tuilaepa is reported the same day, also by Radio NZI, with these words of advice for Bainimarama:“If he goes back to the barracks and leaves the politicians to do what they are good at, then Fiji would be a better place to live.” He says "the Commodore should leave politics alone." We see what he means!

N224.  LIFT PART OF PER.  The Citizens' Constitutional Forum (CCF) has again called for the lifting of the public emergency regulations (PER) to allow the Media Industry Development Decree 2010 to be tested. CEO Rev Akuila Yabaki says PER results in "the muzzling of free speech and expression of opinion which will lead to the emergence of blog sites as the only resort for political opinion and news for the citizens, the state and political opinion makers …

N0173. EARTHQUAKE CONDOLENCES. The PM signed the condolence book for victims of the Christchurch earthquake at the New Zealand High Commission yesterday. His visit to the High Commission follows his sympathy letter sent to his counterpart  John Key last week.  A formal reply is expected later when one also hopes Fiji's condolences will be reported by the NZ media. Confirmed deaths  from Christchurch now total 155 and could rise to 240. New Zealand's worst earthquake death toll was 256 in Napier on 3 February 1931.

N0174.TAGIVEIKATA TRIAL UPDATE. Monday

N0175.PM TELLS TUI CAKAU NO MORE TALKS.  In earlier talks Ratu Naiqama told the PM to step aside and reconvene the Great Council of Chiefs to appoint an interim government.(see N014).

N0176.SDL PARTY OFFICES SEARCHED. SDL senior executive Mataiasi Ragigia  says police searched the SDL headquarters and the staff was ordered to leave. Ragigia described police manners as aggressive, but “None of us were taken in for questioning. We …

IMPORTANT NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS. See previous posting. 

N0005. ONGOING RURAL DEVELOPMENT. Work on the Somosomo Hydro plant in Taveuni should begin in earnest this year with the completion of the dam and site designs by Chinese investors.The $20m Chinese aid funded project was a solution to power problems on the island that was  heavily reliant on diesel powered generators. --Based on 2011, No:0005 /MOI.

Another small project is the micro hydro project in Buca, eastern Cakaudrove, that will be commissioned this month. The total cost of the project is $945,000 shared about equally between Turkish International Cooperation and the Department of Energy. It is expected that electricity will help raise local living standards, fish refrigeration, small businesses among women and better study facilities for children. -- Based on 2010, No:2268 /MOI.

And on the "big island" some 300 villagers in remote Taulevu, Naitasiri, will now have safe drinking water  thanks to eight 10,000 litre tan…

KEEPING THE PEOPLE IN THE DARK. CCF's* Mosmi Bhim is at ANU (Aust. National University) in Canberra for a month on a human rights and governance scholarship awarded by either ANU or the Australian Government, I am not sure which. She is spending most of the month examining the Fiji Government Decrees. 

Mosmi's general position has always been opposition to the 2006 coup while recognizing shortcomings in the former government. She is, in my opinion,  part of Fiji's "middle ground" that Government needs to win if its plans for the future are to be sustainable.  

In a recent Radio Australia interview she said that both the current military regime and past Fijian leaders had successfully prevented the grassroots population from protesting the lack of democracy in the country. She thought this could be because of the problems of infrastructure and development that we have, which prevents people ...receiving enough critical information to make up their own minds whet…

GOVERNMENT AND THE MEDIA
Fiji Times and AG Tussle before Media Decree consultation at two levels

Photo Fiji Times, (l-r) Anne Fussell, police spokesman Ema Mua and lawyer Richard Naidu 11 April 2009.

Yesterday's reported tussle between Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and Fiji Times publisher and managing director Australian Anne Fussell prior to the Media Decree consultations should be read at two levels, for what was said and for what was inferred. The tussle was reported in full and uncensored by the Times.

Level one:Fussell thought more time was needed to study the decree draft before consultations commenced. Two and one-half hours is too short.  I agree. But why, in reporting the tussle, did the Times not include the AG's statement that last week's advertisement contained the bulk of the decree? Not quite the same things but participants will have had far longer than 2 1/2 hours to consider the main items.

Still on level one, I also agree with Fussell that her rema…