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The already strained relationship between New Zealand and Fiji
has sunk to another low with a diplomatic game of
tit-for-tat.
Fiji's self-appointed interim prime minister Commodore Frank
Bainimarama has ordered Australia and New Zealand's most senior
diplomats out of the country.
In response, New Zealand has expelled Fiji's Acting Head of Mission in Wellington and Australia has expelled Fiji's top diplomat in Canberra.
Once again, Fiji is shutting the doors on New Zealand and this time Australia is also out in the cold.
Fiji's military commander is accusing both countries of trying to undermine its instituations after they threatened to extend travel bans to include members of his self-appointed judiciary.
"I can accept their ban on me and my senior officers given the personalisation of matters. But why punish those individuals, both Fijians and non-Fijians, who join the judiciary?" says Bainimarama.
The woman who sparked the military regime's latest rage is High Court Judge Anjala Wati.
She claims she was told she could not get a New Zealand visa for her toddler who needed an urgent eye operation.
However she was later granted one on compassionate grounds.
Foreign Minister Murray McCully denies the judge has been victimised.
"I absolutely refute allegations from Suva of any form of victimisation of Judge Wati, which has been used as justification for the expulsion of Mr Cleaver.
"I can confirm that her application for a visa to travel to New Zealand was dealt with by officials within two to three working days, and dispensation granting the visa was signed off by myself and Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman the same day we received the application.
"Furthermore, I can confirm that Judge Wati is currently in New Zealand, where her son is receiving the medical treatment he requires."
Fiji's military regime also claims Sri Lankan judges enroute to work in Fiji were refused transit visas through Australia.
"I must stand up against such interference. Fiji must have a judiciary and it's not for Australia and New Zealand to tell us we cannot have one or tell us who we are to appoint," says Anthony Gates, Chief Justice.
The Fiji Law Society says it's not just Fijian members of the judiciary who should be targetted but New Zealanders too.
"These judiciaries are mercenaries in the real sense of the word and they should be somehow disciplined by their own law societies and governments," says Dorsami Naidu, Fiji Law Society President.
Foreign Minister Murray McCully confirmed New Zealand's Acting Head of Mission in Fiji, Todd Cleaver, was formally declared Persona Non Grata by the interim regime early Wednesday afternoon and told to leave Fiji.
"As a result of that action, at 3pm officials from New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade met with Fiji's Acting Head of Mission in Wellington, Mr Kuliniasi Seru Savou, and told him he had been declared Persona Non Grata and was instructed to leave New Zealand."
Both New Zealand and Australia have reacted angrily to the expulsion of their envoys.
"We"ve had our ups and downs, today we're having a down," says McCully.
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says Fiji's move is not just gravely concerning but very disappointing.
The New Zealand High Commission in Suva is closed while the government assesses its capability to continue to carry out its main functions, says McCully.
Travel advisory
McCully says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade's travel advisory for New Zealanders visiting Fiji has been changed to reflect Wednesday's developments in Suva.
"New Zealanders travelling to Fiji should now be aware that the level of assistance the High Commission can provide to New Zealand citizens may be affected due to the depleted staff numbers," he says.
