27 MPs voted for the treaties, 7 voted against while 1 abstained.
While tabling the Treaties in Parliament, Attorney General Sevuloni Valenitabua says
these Treaties provide an opportunity for Fiji and Australia to work more closely together in addressing shared security, economic and development challenges.
He says the Vuvale Union and the Ocean of Peace Alliance represent an important step in strengthening Fiji's longstanding relationship with Australia.
Valenitabua says together, they provide a framework for deeper cooperation, enhanced security and shared opportunities that will benefit our people and contribute to the stability and prosperity of the wider Pacific.
He adds that this partnership is founded by mutual respect and a shared commitment to working together while upholding Fiji's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.
He stressed to Members of Parliament that they must recognise the importance of building partnerships that protect our national interests, strengthen our capabilities and secure a better future for our people when considering this Treaties.
Seeking Parliament's approval for the Fiji-Australia Vuvale Union and the Ocean of Peace Alliance (Veitacini Treaty) Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says it was a lifelong ambition to promote peace in the Pacific.
He says our regions face growing strategic competition, transnational crimes, drug trafficking, the HIV crisis, climate change, economic uncertainty and technological change and these challenges affect our sovereignty, our security, the livelihoods and future of our people.
Rabuka says it does not only affect affect us but it also threatens.
He adds that no country can address these challenges alone, and strong partnerships are essential but they must be founded on common values of mutual respect, trust, sovereign equality and shared responsibility.
The Prime Minister says these treaties provide that foundation.
While acknowledging the work of the Standing Committee and its consideration of these treaties, he says this report raises issues concerning the certaint of financial commitments, transparency, equitable benefits, and parliamentary oversight.
He says the value of this partnership will ultimately be measured by the benefit it delivers to our people and its contribution to Fiji's national interest.
Rabuka says we must also grow out of the beggar mentality and be able to be strong enough to stand on our own two feet.
He adds that Fiji requested these treaties and he acknowledges the governmentof Australia and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, for accepting it without hesitation.
The Prime Minister says the Vuvale Union is built around Fiji's priorities and they include combating transnational crimes and drugs, strengthening our health system, responding to the HIV crisis, and developing critical infrastructure, improving climate resilience, diversifying the economy, and building the skills of our workforce.
He says their objective is to build lasting national capability, not dependency.
He also says The benefits extend beyond financial assistance and infrastructure to strengthen our people, institutions, and productive sectors.
Rabuka made it clear that these treaties do not transfer Fiji's sovereignty or give Australia authority over Fiji's foreign policy, defense policy, or our security decisions.
He says both countries retain control over their respective sovereignties and international relationships.
While contributing to the motion, Opposition MP and Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence Virendra Lal raised his concerns that the processed appears to be rushed, saying submissions cautioned that approving these treaties without thorough scrutiny and appropriate safeguards could expose Fiji to significant financial obligations and have far-reaching implications for its sovereign decision-making.
He says the committee considers it essential that Parliament fully understands the legal, financial and strategic commitments arising from both treaties before granting its approval.
Lal says this is particularly important to ensure that Fiji's sovereignty, the interests of its taxpayers and its ability to make independent decisions on matters of national importance remain adequately protected.
He adds that collective defence alliance is not an ordinary agreement; it commits to war.
He says it places foreign military personnel on Fijian soil under Article 7 and it constrains Fiji's foreign policy under Article 10.
Lal also raised concerns that the public has not been consulted and educated.
He says the implications have not been fully explored, adding that civil societies was also not consulted during the initial formulation of the treaty.
He also adds that information materials including translated versions in Hindi and iTaukei has not been released widely
He says sovereignty is not a military asset to be pulled without consent.
Lal says a treaty that commits Fiji to war without parliamentary approval does not multiply sovereignty, it mortgages it.
A point of order was raised by Leader of Government in Parliament Ro Filipe Tuisawau citing Standing Orders 62 (1) on imputing improper motives, saying that the treaty does not entail anything Lal said.
Ro Filipe says that it was wrong of Lal to say that the Treaty obligates Fiji to war.
The Speaker Filimone Jitoko allowed Lal to continue, saying that the issue is that was that Lal was making his own interpretation of the provisions of the Treaty, even if it's not in agreement with how the Government interpret the Treaty.
Lal says the proposed Treaty moves Fiji in the opposite direction as it places Fiji in a legal relationship in which military does undermine outcome.
He says Australia sets the terms, holds the veto, serves as depository, and cannot be held to account by any court.
The Opposition MP says Australia's deepening alignment with the United States could draw Fiji into a Taiwan Strait or South China Sea conflict.
He adds that Fiji must not be drawn into a conflict arising from Australia's other alliance commitments.
Another point of order was raised by the Minister for Defence Pio Tikoduadua, saying that what the Opposition MP said is factually incorrect.
Tikoduadua says that the Treaty is quite clear that it's the two nations in Defence of each other and not anywhere outside of Australia and Fiji.
He says no one is going to the Taiwan Strait.
The Speaker then told Lal that he has allowed him to interpret the Treaty in his own interpretation but warned that he should not go further and implicate involvement in areas where the Treaty doesn't go.
Contributing to the motion, Minister for Foreign Affairs Sakiasi Ditoka says Parliamentary scrutiny is an important responsibility, particularly where national sovereignty, security and the long-term interests of the people are concerned.
Addressing the concerns raised on Fiji's sovereignty, Ditoka says our sovereignty was not granted on the condition that we avoid international partnerships, nor does our independence require us to remain isolated from countries whose capabilities can assist our development.
He says sovereignty is the authority of a nation to make decisions concerning its own affairs, including with whom we cooperate and what agreements we enter into.
Ditoka says when Fiji enters into an agreement through its own constitutional processes, that is an exercise of sovereignty.
He made it clear that international treaties do create obligations and we must therefore be careful about the commitments we undertake.
The Minister says we should not confuse the existence of treaty obligations with the surrender of sovereignty and the Vuvale Union recognizes the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and democratic systems of both countries.
He adds that our friendship with Australia did not come at the expense of our friendship with other nations.
Ditoka highlighted that the Vuvale Unionn places climate resilience, economic development, infrastructure, public health and cooperation against transnational crime within this broader framework, consistent with the principles of the Boyer Declaration.
He says if we want the Ocean of Peace to become more than a declaration adopted at regional meetings, we must be prepared to build the partnerships and capabilities necessary to support it.
The Minister adds that one of the strongest reasons for supporting the Vuvale Union is the opportunity it presents for Fiji's development.
He says the commitments announced include more than AUS $1 billion for over ten years, comprising approximately AUS $674 in grants and AUS $350 million in concessional loans.
He further says grant create no repayment obligations while loans, even on favorable terms, must be assessed for affordability, economic return and the implications for public debt.
The Foreign Affairs Minister adds that he sees considerable opportunity here, and Fiji needs to diversify its economy, expand exports and attract productive investment.
He says Australia is a major market for Fijian goods and services, and this relationship should help our businesses overcome regulatory and technical barriers and take part in regional supply chains.
