Solomon Islands Foreign Minister William Haomae has written to governments across the Pacific supporting Fijian complaints that any talk of a new trade deal is in breach of existing arrangements.
Fiji has invoked the dispute clause of a 2001 deal — known as the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations — criticizing the ‘‘unlawful denial’’ of rights and ‘‘unlawful exclusion’’ of Fiji from any new agreement.
The dispute turns on a legal wrangle over Australia’s attempt to forge a new Pacific-wide deal to be called PACER Plus, which the Federal Government plans to launch next week in Cairns when it hosts a major meeting of Pacific island leaders.
Fiji maintains the two deals are linked, while Australia insists they are separate agreements.
In his letter, obtained by The Age, Haome registers the Solomon Islands’ support for Fiji and ‘‘that there be no further discussion of PACER matters’’ until further consultations.
It follows a declaration by Pacific countries — including Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Vanuatu — earlier this month that said the exclusion of Fiji would render agreements ‘‘null and void.”
‘‘Leaders recognized Fiji’s right to participate in regional trade and economic co-operation agreements,’’ the declaration said.
Fiji’s appeal to legal protection marks a strange turn after Fiji’s President earlier this year dumped the country’s constitution.
Fiji was then suspended from the Pacific Island Forum meetings after Commodore Bainimarama administration failed to meet a deadline to announce fresh elections, and was also excluded from the new round of trade talks.
University of Auckland international law specialist Jane Kelsey — who was asked by a regional campaign group to write a legal opinion on Fiji’s exclusion from the new deal — said the Australian Government was ‘‘totally disingenuous’’ in trying to separate the two agreements.
She said the push for talks towards a new treaty had been directly triggered by aspects of the earlier deal.
But Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean denied Australia had triggered the original agreement. He said the proposed new agreement was much more than just a trade agreement and that it covered broad areas of ‘‘capacity building’’.
Australia has previously argued the new agreement offered a chance to lift trade flows across the region to access the developed economies of Australia and New Zealand.
In June, regional trade ministers also agreed to commence PACER Plus negotiations to promote economic growth. Lowy Institute South Pacific analyst Jenny Hayward-Jones said Australia had to be extra cautious to ensure the new deal was seen to focus on economic development agreement if it was to gain widespread support in Cairns.
‘‘Without PACER Plus it is hard to see what else will make it a stand-out meeting,” Ms Hayward-Jones said.
