Pacific proved foreign to Rudd

While leadership tensions continue between Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and former Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama has placed Fiji’s best hope on opposition leader Tony Abbott for a change in policy towards Fiji.

The Daily Telegraph reports Bainimarama said Rudd was a flop as foreign minister with China and Russia now muscling into Fiji’s  backyard because Kevin Rudd neglected the Pacific.

Bainimarama said Australian policy towards Fiji under Rudd was governed by pride and not good policy.

Bainimarama said both the United States and New Zealand had broken ranks with Australia and renewed their official contacts with Fiji severed after his 2006 coup.

Describing China as a friend which had given Fiji about $200 million in soft loans, Bainimarama said Australia only had itself to blame for the country's increased presence in the region.

Bainimarama said Rudd had been noticeably absent from regional capitals during his 17 months in the foreign affairs portfolio.

He had made only one foray into the region, a single weekend trip to Papua New Guinea last October.

He said that unlike Australia, Russia appeared to recognize the growing importance of the smaller island states and wanted closer ties.

Bainimarama said Fiji’s best hope rested with Tony Abbott winning the next election saying that Abbott is more understanding of the situation than Kevin Rudd and his team.

 
Story by: Sofaia Koroitanoa
Source: The Daily Telegraph