Islands Business - Whispers

Aussie Slip of the tongue; The royal storm; New breed of diplomats, Cooks' games jump

Aussie slip of the tongue: That the Land Down Under is really low in the favourite country list of some islands countries was confirmed at a recent regional conference. John Howard’s rep irked some Pacific islands delegates with one of them actually walking out of the room in disgust when he remarked that they couldn’t ‘pen’ indigenous members of their community when it comes to drugs and substance abuse. It may have been a ‘slip of the tongue’ but islands delegates saw it as proof of the ‘racial’ overtones of some of their public policies. And true to form and in keeping with the Pacific Way, the remark was never brought formally to the attention of the Aussie rep! But if you doubt this, the truth will reveal itself in the meeting’s summary records...that is if the Australians do not demand a deletion.

MSG boss? So much whispering about the new boss for the big Melanesian club—the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG)—that there’s still no announcement to-date about who will be the big ‘fella’ residing in the glass building taking shape beside the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Vanuatu Government in Port Vila. The home of the MSG secretariat is due to open this month. But still WHISPERS has yet to hear of any announcement. At one time, there were talks of having the MSG boss from either Fiji or PNG. Then the whispers of a possible PNG woman became audible for a while. Now the small talk is still on PNG, but this time it would be a man, actually.

Royal storm: Have you heard about a royal party that saw a key party member storming out, furious that a member of his party was asked not to share the head table with guests? Whispers has been told the key party member in question had turned up to a reception with an un-listed and therefore un-invited guest in his arms. Yet the two stormed out when it was whispered to them during the banquet that the new, unknown guest—the key party’s poodle—cannot enjoy the royal treat from the top of the best table!

The new diplomats: Have you noticed that there is a new trend developing in the Fiji foreign service? The past practise has been to send career diplomats to serve in their foreign missions. One foreign official said, “now they are bringing in military personnel and cops to serve as Fiji’s envoys.” Two military officers recently left Suva to take up diplomatic postings in New York and Beijing. Two more cops are now undergoing training at the ministry’s HQ waiting to be posted—either to Wellington or Tokyo! Meanwhile, another military officer, who heads the immigration office, is about to head to India for further studies. WHISPERS has been told he will be in India for a year, and when he returns, he is expected to get a promotion—a climb up the military hierachy.

SPREP job: SPREP recently put out an advertisement for the Editor/Publication Officer position after the holder of the post resigned well before his term was up. Six people including a Pacific Islander, who once worked in the same field in the premier organisation—the Forum Secretariat—were shortlisted but for telephone interviews only. From the interview, another shortlist would be drawn. It was drawn alright, but no one from the Pacific Islands. Word from Apia has it that the three finalists were—an American, Australian and a Canadian. The Canadian, WHISPERS has been told, is sailing across the Pacific and has a background in TV production, while the American, it is being said, has experience in the Pacific, strong in publications and has a web background. WHISPERS was also informed that the decision to hire was pre-determined and the advertisement was merely to satisfy member governments’ requirements that all posts must be advertised. WHISPERS has been reliably told the job is likely to go to the American.

Chief trade negotiator? When the big fellas at the Pacific Islands Forum threw their support behind the office of a chief negotiator for the Pacific on PACER—trade speak—that gives free rein for Australian and New Zealand products to flood islands markets—all seemed unanimous on the best candidate: former foreign minister of Fiji, Kaliopate Tavola.

“He’s the only candidate that will get the endorsement of both Australia and New Zealand,” a senior regional civil servant whispered. The two countries ‘endorsement’ is crucial because they are the ones signing the cheques! Vanuatu’s new ambassador to Brussels was more forthright: “There’s no one else in the region who is more suited for the job than Kaliopate and you can quote me on that!”

Uluinaceva’s revolution? WHISPERS has learnt of the other reason why Fiji’s former top finance guy, Paula Uluinaceva, was a wanted man. Officially, he was wanted so government funds could be released from the banks. The other reason (but not widely known), it has been whispered, is that he was suspected of siphoning off state funds to start a revolution. A nationwide search was conducted in December, days after the coup, for Uluinaceva, who we now know was holidaying with his family in the Yasawas. Uluinaceva was “found” after slipping through the military checkpoints and turning himself in at the Queen Elizabeth Barracks, the military HQ. There he also had to tell the guards who he was. WHISPERS has also learnt that only his secretary knew of his whereabouts and of course the “freeze” on all government funds, which he put in place as “guardian” of government finances. He is now enjoying a less stressful job as finance consultant to the Nauru Government.

Pacific Media Watch: OK, as we’ve said before—never let it be said that your WHISPERS column shies from shining the spotlight on the media too. So here’s three items picked up from whispers in the wind. One: Those who forget the North Pacific do so at their peril. Regional organisations should take heed of the following. Current efforts to revitalise the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) may be too late as far as the Micronesians are concerned. Moves are being mooted to form their own North Pacific regional media association. Two of those behind this are former stalwarts of PINA, which once embraced the North Pacific too. But since 2003, the North Pacific has been amongst areas neglected as PINA struggled through a difficult merger with the Pacific Islands Broadcasting Association (PIBA). Two: Former staff of the feisty original Fiji Sun newspaper have abandoned a planned reunion in Fiji this year. The reunion would have marked the 20th anniversary of the original Sun’s closure because it refused to accept self censorship after two 1987 military coups. Apparently some of the many ex-Sun staffers now working in Australia and New Zealand see little joy in returning to a Fiji once again under the rule of the military gun. Three: Those in the region who forget the Samoans do so at their peril. Grumblings from the heart of Polynesia ask why there are three journalists from Fiji in an eight-person Forum Secretariat-funded regional team covering next month’s Forum in Tonga?

Crossing the floor: A government minister in the Solomons feels so insecure about his job that he told the Prime Minister that if the government offered the job again to his predecessor, he threatened to cross the floor. Recently, as the Solomon Islands Parliament was preparing to debate a vote-of-no-confidence, the same minister met members of the Opposition offering to vote with them.

But with one condition: He has asked for the same commitment from the Opposition that when in government, never offer his predecessor a job. His fears and insecurity are well founded. His predecessor is the only known Solomon Islands MP with Harvard University education qualifications. Obviously, the minister still wants to live in the stone age, sharing RCDF grants in handouts under the waving palms in Honiara!

Darcy treatment: Enemies of the ‘coalition of the willing,’ beware. The whisper is that if you disappoint one member, be prepared to be ‘roughed up’ by another. Gordon Lilo Darcy, one of Solomon Islands’ upcoming leaders, got a rude awakening in one of his recent trips overseas when he and his entire delegation of about 10 people were singled out and made to strip and thoroughly searched! He was transiting through Guam (of all places) and as far as he knew, Solomons and Uncle Sam were pals. Only when he and his delegation arrived home did they learn that his boss—just as they were about to pass through Guam—had launched another volley of ‘poison’ against his bigger western neighbour across the Coral Sea!

Aussie ban: With bigger neighbours of Australia and New Zealand slapping travel bans on Fiji soldiers and their supporters, the whisper is whether the Fiji regime has its own ban of sorts. Guests at a recent forum in Suva were taken aback when all seats of government officials remained empty. Was it because the invite came from the executives of an Australian-based textile company? Or was it to do with the fact that one of the speakers was Australia’s envoy based in Fiji (There was no provision for a Fiji government speaker in the programme, by the way)? Or was it related to the subject of the forum—how to improve textile exports to Australia?

Shopping trips: How can Pacific islands foster a meaningful trade relationship with China when government officials who go there at the expense of the Chinese worry more about where to find the best shops and deals, and bars than whether the Chinese are interested in their countries. WHISPERS was reliably told that the Pacific Trade office in China has now discovered that more results would be achieved working with the Pacific’s private sector representatives than with shopping-inclined government officials.

Men’s world: Members of the Pacific Islands Chapter of the Internet Society are on the cutting edge of information communication technology (ICT). But maybe not yet gender equality. Their recent election, coinciding with the big PacINET conference in Honiara, saw only one woman elected to their seven-person executive. A couple of bright young islands women in ICT stood for office but missed out. Perhaps, the society needs to be gender sensitised.

Games jump: In the Cook Islands there are concerns about the lack of preparation underway for the 2009 Mini Pacific Games on Rarotonga. They haven’t been helped by the man who was supposed to drive these efforts instead of preparing to jump ship. Nooroa “Bim” Tou was expected to quit as chief executive of the Cook Islands Sports and National Olympic Committee, the Cook Islands Herald reported. Tou had successfully applied for the post of chief executive of the Ports Authority, it revealed.