Little NZ can do about Fiji 

Source: ONE NewsMurray McCully

New Zealand's Foreign Minister says Fiji has taken a giant step backwards in the last few days but there is little this country can do.

Murray McCully told TVNZ's Q + A programme that it doesn't get much worse than "declaring yourself dictator for life"  but New Zealand has to let Fiji work it out while making it clear the international community is there to lend a hand.

McCully said sacking the judges and clamping down on personal and media freedoms fits the traditional mould for a military dictator and such moves haven't had a happy ending anywhere in the world.

But McCully told ONE News political editor Guyon Espiner that we must avoid seeing the situation as a contest with the military regime to make them have elections.

"We can't make them have elections and can't stop them wrecking their economy," McCully said.

The Foreign Minister said there is lots more New Zealand could do but any further action would restrict the freedoms of New Zealanders to travel or trade with Fiji and that would put us in the same category.

He said that along with other countries, New Zealand is looking at fine-tuning sanctions and could toughen up the impact of sanctions targeting regime and members of their families.

But he reiterated that the government was not going to do anything drastic to change the regime because anything substantial would effectively "make us no better than them".

McCully admits Australia and New Zealand's sanctions policy isn't working and hasn't brought Fiji to hold elections. He says various international bodies have talked to Fiji in good faith and they all feel let down.

"We are dealing with a tough regime and it is not going to bend in a hurry," he says.

Case by case basis

McCully says they weigh up foreign policy on a case by case basis. He says Tonga is now on a path to democracy from a feudal monarchy with democratic elections set for next year and New Zealand has been able to make a significant contribution in opening up China's economy. But he says there has been no opportunity to engage
with Burma.

The Foreign Minister says New Zealand always seeks to be part of any solution, not problem.

Questioned about China's aid to Fiji he said the official line is that New Zealand welcomes China's generosity in the Pacific. But he says given the size of the ocean being shared by 14 smaller Pacific nations, the government is working to get China to understand the benefits of working more closely with New Zealand and Australia.

He said he is pleased chequebook diplomacy in the Pacific is being scaled back.

And McCully was cautious over a United States request for more military help in Afghanistan, specifically for SAS troops. He says NZ is reviewing its commitment to Afghanistan and is having a look in context of the complete package of support for region. And he says they must factor is resource and capacity issues going forward.

McCully says Timor Leste has NZ's biggest deployment and it is important to be aware of the needs in our own region. And as New Zealand heads toward a centre line in the Mideast he acknowledged that the country is aligning itself more with its old allies such as the United States, Australia and the UK rather than the United Nations.

The minister made it clear that the government's foreign policy broadly represents the consensus of public opinion in New Zealand.