Foreign Minister meets Aust, NZ counterparts

February 04, 2010 05:45:12 AM

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Fiji’s Foreign Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola met with his Australian and New Zealand counterparts in Canberra last night following recent moves by New Zealand to restore ties with Fiji.

The meeting follows last year's tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions by all three countries over Fiji’s allegations that the two neighbours were interfering in the local judiciary.

The meeting followed separate discussions between New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith and Kubuabola at the United Nations in New York last year, and further talks
between McCully and Kubuabola that led to January's decision to expand New Zealand and Fijian consular missions in Suva and Wellington.

The New Zealand Herald reports Smith waived travel bans imposed on members of the Fijian government to enable Kubuabola to meet him and McCully, who was in the Australian capital for the regular six-monthly formal discussions between the transtasman foreign ministers.

Neither McCully nor Smith was optimistic of any form of breakthrough at what was described as a private meeting.

They said discussions would not include the positions and sanctions imposed on Fiji by the Pacific Islands Forum or the Commonwealth.

But both ministers welcomed the opportunity to at least start moves towards a new dialogue.

"The significance of today's meeting is the actual having of a dialogue," Smith said.

"It may well be that all we agree as a result of the meeting is to speak again in the future.”

"Frankly, I'd regard that myself as progress."

Both McCully and Smith emphasised that their meeting with Kubuabola and their hopes of opening a new dialogue did not represent a softening in their approach towards the Fijian regime.

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