The Australian government said in a statement that it had notified the interim government of its decision to approve the appointment of an acting high commissioner at the Fiji mission in Canberra as well as a consular general in Sydney.
Bainimarama asked why there was only an acting high commissioner as opposed to a substantive post.
“It’s been good news except why should we have an acting high commissioner when they have a fully fledged high commissioner here,” he asked.
The military commander said he was disappointed with the Australian statement which referred to the interim government as “regime.”
A paragraph in the statement reads “This includes indications from Commodore Bainimarama that an election will not take place until the regime’s People’s Charter is in place and that an election could be delayed by his plans to change Fiji’s electoral system.”
Bainimarama said the statement showed that Australia was not genuine in its dealings with his administration.
The statement from the Australian government said the appointment of the acting high commissioner and a consular general was to improve diplomatic communications between the two governments following the recall of the Fiji high commissioner to Australia in July last year.
It also welcomed the appointment of Felicity Heffernan as the supervisor of election.
The statement said despite the positive developments, the Australian government was still concerned about the situation in Fiji and the statements made by Bainimarama.
