Peters Winston: Ministerial Statements — Fiji—High Commissioner for New Zealand  
Peters Winston: Ministerial Statements — Fiji—High Commissioner for New Zealand  
[Volume:639;Page:9887] 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Minister of Foreign Affairs) 
: 
 I seek to move a ministerial statement as per Standing Order 348 in relation to the current situation in Fiji. I would like to inform the House that the High Commissioner for New Zealand in Fiji Michael Green has been declared persona non grata by Fiji’s interim Government. The New Zealand Government deplores this action. Expelling diplomats is not the way for neighbours to conduct their relationship. Mike Green is a highly respected senior diplomat of over 30 years’ standing and a man of great integrity. He enjoys the full confidence of our Government and we are not aware of any activities that he has undertaken that justify Fiji’s actions. He has in the course of his duties drawn attention to New Zealand’s policy in the wake of the coup. That is the role of a diplomat and he has not said anything other than what the Prime Minister and I have been saying. 
Declaring a high commissioner persona non grata is a very grave act for a country to take. It is just one step below breaking relations. There will be undoubtedly consequences for Fiji as this action will be viewed very seriously not only by us but also by Fiji’s other international partners including Pacific Island nations Australia the United States and the European Union. 
I have been in contact with the interim Government in Fiji in an effort to work the issue through and to urge it to reflect further. Unfortunately it seems it is going ahead with this completely unjustifiable action. I note that the interim regime has also made the highly inappropriate suggestion that if New Zealand itself terminated Mr Green’s assignment and lifted the travel ban against those involved in the coup the interim regime in return would suspend its actions. This is totally unacceptable. This is not a style of diplomacy that New Zealanders understand. It speaks volumes about those currently in charge in Fiji. 
We will now consider our options and the regime can expect a strong reaction. The Government will be undertaking a full review of all aspects of the bilateral relationship and in such circumstances it is difficult to see how we can be expected to show flexibility on issues such as the visa ban. 
Fiji’s action is particularly troubling given that Suva is host to a number of important regional institutions including the Pacific Islands Forum secretariat and the high commissioners and ambassadors accredited to Fiji are the senior country representatives to those institutions. The timing of Fiji’s action is puzzling given New Zealand had acknowledged the recent lifting of emergency regulations as a positive step and the Pacific Islands Forum joint working-group appeared to have made progress on an acceptable timetable for elections. New Zealand remains committed to the pathway put forward by the forum for a return to democracy in Fiji and will continue to participate in joint working-group discussions on this issue in which Mr Green has hitherto played an active and constructive role.