PM tells Fijians in Australia that Fiji will always be their home

‘Being Fijian is not only about defending our way of life at home but going out into the world and helping to defend the way of life others.’

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama made this comment during the Fiji Day Celebrations at the Whitlam Leisure Centre Grounds in Liverpool, Australia.

Bainimarama says being Fijians means fighting tyranny, poverty and standing up for vulnerable ordinary people not only in Fiji but also for the whole world.

He says that is why Fijian men and women in uniform are serving as UN Peacekeepers in some of the most dangerous places on earth.

Bainimarama says that this is a day to celebrate our unity as a nation and reflect on the progress we have made in the 46 years since Independence.

He says he is convinced that our progress as a nation is not measured so much by the commentators or historians but it is measured in the personal stories of ordinary people.

He told the Fijians in Australia that Fiji will always be their home and we all are part of a big family stretching from our island home across the world.

The Prime Minister says whatever differences in the past during the lost years, we are finally together as one nation and one people bound by the love we have for our country and for each other.

He says we are now a family reconciled and this is a wonderful moment in our history.

Bainimarama says that despite Tropical Cyclone Winston, our buoyant economy is in its seventh straight year of growth and is enabling us to improve the lives of so many more of our people.

The Prime Minister urges all the Fijians in Australia to come back to Fiji as a resident, a visitor, to build a home, or to start a business and help us build the nation we all know can be ‑ the way the world should be.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister acknowledged the Australian Government and the Fijians for their assistant aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Winston.

He says it was the practical assistance and those Aussie smiles that made such a difference to our people and they will never forget it.

Australia’s Minister for International Development and the Pacific Senator Concetta Fierravanti‑Wells, her husband John Wells and Liverpool Mayor Wendy Waller were also present during the Fiji Day celebration.