Fiji faces air route isolation

Press, 6 October 1987, Page 8

Fiji faces air route isolation

By

BRENDON BURNS,

political reporter

Fiji could be left isolated from international air traffic if the Cabinet approves the full range of sanctions before it

The Prime Minister, Mr Lange, said that the Cabinet had yesterday considered extra measures, beyond the already signalled end to foreign aid, military links, and guaranteed sugar prices. Aid to Fiji extends to assistance with civil aviation, including Royal New Zealand Air Force staff and aircraft to meet international requirements for search and rescue.

Mr Lange said if such support was withdrawn, there would be a number of consequences. “One sad one for Fiji is that planes would have to fly direct to Honolulu.” There was much assistance to Fiji which was not direct foreign aid, he said.

The Trade and Industry Department, for example, helped with the marketing of Pacific Island products and sponsored development projects. “Things pop up all round which were designed benignly to encourage economic de-

velopment and which we would not wish to stop malevolently,” said Mr Lange. Fiji was not being threatened with the withdrawal of support That could only harden attitudes. “But I think that we all should know what the consequences would be if that unhappy state of affairs came about.”

Mr Lange repeated his May comment that New Zealand and the South Pacific region did not want to see Fiji become an “economic basket case.”

There was little chance of Commonwealth action against Fiji, Mr Lange said. The Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (C.H.0.G.M.) is in Vancouver in a week.

Mr Lange predicted Fiji would be discussed only in the corridors and informally. He said the meeting had no power to remove Fiji from membership.

This was a simple act for the Commonwealth Secre-tary-General, Sir Sridath Ramphal, to perform if a republic was declared. “If Fiji does discharge the Constitution, dismiss the Queen as Head of State, then that is the act to take them out of the Commonwealth," said Mr Lange.

The Commonwealth was not a body able to coerce members. “It is almost the influence of family rather than the influence of force." This influence was already showing itself in Fiji with the reluctance of many people to support the second coup, although they had accepted the first. Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka had now struck at allegience to the Crown, whereas Parliamentary democracy was the target of the first coup. Mr Lange thought it unlikely that Fiji would be represented at the Vancouver C.H.O.G.M. While the Governor-General,

Ratu Sir Penaia Ganllau, had been invited, this was an offer of “grace rather than practicality.” Events in Fiji were expected to keep Ratu Ganilau at home and no diplomatic representative was expected. Mr Lange believed the formal communique would record a Commonwealth view about the situation in Fiji. He expected New Zealand would be at the forefront of the informal talks, as would the Melanesian Commonwealth nations of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. This co-called "spearhead” group of countries had warned that Fiji, should be left alone to make its own choices after the May coup. Bur Mr Lange said they now appeared disappointed that a peaceful resolution to Fiji’s problems had not been pursued.