“There are many countries that Australia and New Zealand may not necessarily agree with in terms of their policies, in terms of their particular stand with democracy, human rights, yet their diplomats engage in constructive and diplomatic fashion,” he said.
“In Fiji they are completely disengaged and I would consider that quiet patronizing and that exactly what’s been happening because we are a small Pacific island country,” he added.
“Australia and New Zealand have double standard toward us. They do not do that with nations that are more economic powerful than them, they feel they are politically aligned to them, they feel they can do that,” he said.
Sayed Khaiyum’s latest attacks came in light of revelations by Fiji’s department of information that an Australian had posted “not very complimentary” details of Fiji’s new chief justice on the internet.
The Australian, Fiji’s information department claimed works at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra.
“This is one of the proofs as to what is happening in respect to their foreign policy against Fiji,” Sayed Khaiyum said. “This is obviously appalling, it’s obviously hypocritical and double standards.”
The information Sayed-Khaiyum said were posted on the online encyclopedia Wikipedia and they used a computer expert to trace the source of the online posting.
Commodore Frank Bainimarama’s attorney general returns to Fiji via Brisbane after attending the one-day summit of Pacific Islands Forum member countries in Port Moresby on Tuesday.
Canberra has to relax its stand against issuing travel visas to members of Fiji’s military and interim government in order to encourage Bainimarama to attend the Moresby summit.
Speaking to journalists at the end of the meeting at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Sayed-Khaiyum was also critical of the line of questioning he had to face from New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key for reportedly telling him that the Fijian lawyer should be tried in court for his role in Bainimarama’s regime.
According to the interim AG, “[Key] said to me ‘what if you have these electoral reforms, then have elections under the new electoral reforms and then you have a government that is in place then the military doesn’t like the government and overthrows the government.’
“I said ‘the military won’t do that because the military is also for electoral reform and should you have a government that is elected under a system that allows equal suffrage and is truly democratic then nobody in Fiji will have problem with that.’
“He then said to me ‘no I want to know whether you will be part of that government.’
“And I said to him ‘I didn’t know that I was under trial.’
“He then said ‘you should be.’
“That’s when I said to the Forum chair, ‘this is obviously very personal or are we going to discuss matters pertaining to Fiji.’
“Now this is indicative of the type of personalization that has taken place in Fiji by the New Zealand and Australian authorities.
“We have repeatedly said this and repeatedly it continues to happen.
“And he is the Prime Minister of New Zealand making those sorts of comments at a Forum leaders’ meeting.
“It actually is quiet unbelievable when you think about it.”
Key will visit Honiara en route to Wellington aboard a Royal New Zealand Air Force jet.
With him are several Pacific leaders as well as representatives of the New Zealand media who accompanied Key to Papua New Guinea’s special Forum meeting on Tuesday.
