Fiji’s Foreign Affairs Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola has questioned his New Zealand counterpart Murray McCully whether he really means what he is saying or is he just painting an illusionary picture to the international community regarding his claims.  

This is in response to McCully’s comments earlier this week that Australia and New Zealand are part of the Pacific and important relatives to Pacific nations after Kubuabola said Fiji would not seek to rejoin the Pacific Islands Forum in its current structure.

PACNEWS reported Kubuabola said obviously there is much happening behind the scenes than what meets the eye.
 
He said Australia and New Zealand do not share the development aspirations of the Pacific, as even in the international community they have a different agenda as a whole.

Kubuabola said if Australia and New Zealand were really relatives of the Pacific, then they would have consulted the Pacific at large on their Asylum Seeker Policy without trying to dump the solution in the Melanesia Group.
 
The Fiji Foreign Affairs Minister said it is not the geography but the bond and the trust that the Pacific shares that matters the most.

He said for Australia and New Zealand, he understands it is just a coincidence of geography.
 
New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Murray McCully has also denied instructing any of his officials to lobby Pacific countries not to attend the recent Pacific Islands Development Forum in Fiji.

Kubuabola said Australia and New Zealand lobbied behind the scenes in an effort to discourage the event, which was attended by 14 out of the 23 invited countries.


Story by: Sofaia Koroitanoa