Aid money can play a big part on how countries relying on aid make decisions and this is one of ways that the planned Melanesian Spearhead Group Plus meeting has been sabotaged.
Those are the words of Fiji's Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama who said it cannot be ignored that millions of dollars are being given out by Australia to certain Pacific island countries, and he said it is all about control.
Commodore Bainimarama believes Australia then expected countries like Vanuatu to return the favour by asking outgoing MSG Chair and Vanuatu Prime Minister, Edward Natepei to cancel next week's meeting in Fiji.
Bainimarama said the solidarity of the Pacific island countries will always be at risk based on some donor countries using tactics to control what happens in the Pacific.
However Fiji's Prime Minister stresses that countries like Australia and NZ will continue to remain frustrated because they cannot control Fiji's destiny.
Fiji's Foreign Minister, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola said special aid from Australia will see the Vanuatu government receive 66.4 million dollars, the highest ever in the country's aid from Australia.
Meanwhile Australia's Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith while speaking to Radio Australia said the reasons for Sarah Roberts expulsion from Fiji are linked to the postponement of the MSG meeting.
Smith has however admitted that Australia had been making representations against the idea of a MSG Plus meeting taking place.
Australian diplomat leaves the country
Members of the diplomatic corp including the US, Britain, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, Japan, the EU, the UN, Malaysia, Korea and the Forum Secretariat were at the Australian High Commission
in Suva to farewell expelled Australian diplomat, Sarah Roberts.
The diplomats accompanied Roberts to Lami as she left for Nadi International Airport.
Roberts will leave the country this afternoon.
The Fiji government handed the official letter of expulsion to Roberts yesterday after she was declared persona non-grata.
She is the second Australian diplomat to be expelled.
Story by: Vijay Narayan
