E&OE
14 July 2008
Doorstop Interview - Nausori Airport, Fiji
Emily Moli -Fiji Television: Sir this is your first official visit to Fiji. Are you looking forward to meeting with the Forum Ministers?
Stephen Smith: I’m very pleased to be here. I’m the first Australian Minister to be here since the coup in 2006. I’m very pleased to be here as part of the Pacific Islands Forum Ministers’ Ministerial Contact Group. I’m looking forward to catching up with my colleagues later this evening. I’m looking forward to the work we’re going to do tomorrow.
We’re of course charged with making a judgement about the willingness and the preparedness of the Interim Government to meet the commitment it gave to Pacific Islands leaders to have an election by the end of March next year . But I’m also very pleased to be here because it’s just very good to have the dialogue. It’s good to have the conversation. It’s very important to the region that Fiji is a fully fledged member of the Pacific Islands Forum, of the Commonwealth and of the region. So, it’ll be good to have the dialogue as well.
Kerri Ritchie (ABC): But Mr Smith a lot of people are saying you should be fed up and everyone is fed up with talk?
Smith: Well, the Interim Government gave a commitment to take Fiji to an election by the end of the first quarter of 2009. That was a faithful and unconditional commitment given by Commodore Bainimarama, and the Ministerial Contact Group has been charged with making a judgement about the willingness and preparedness for that election and to report to the Pacific Islands Leaders Forum in Niue in August. So that’s our task and it’s a very important task.
Ritchie: Are you personally getting fed up, are you getting frustrated?
Mr Smith: Well if I was in that state I wouldn’t be here. I’m very pleased to be here because we’ve got important work to do and we’ve got important conversations with the interim government.
Sean Dorney (ABCTV): Inaudible … with the other political leaders?
Smith: Well we’ll see what the work of the Contact Group involves, or how it evolves. But our primary obligation and the task that we’ve been charged with is to make a judgment about the Interim Government’s willingness and preparedness to go to an election. That’s the responsibility we’ve been charged with. So that’s our primary task. Whether we do other things, time will tell. That will be a matter for the Contact Group and as I say I’m looking forward to having a conversation with them later this evening.
[Ends]
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