Australia's Travel Bans To Remain In Place

The first of many sign that Bainimarama and his military regime will continue to be shut out by Australia (and New Zealand).

Vinaka Australia!

Amid calls for change, Australia reaffirms Fiji policy
Australia has ruled out easing travel bans on the Fiji regime as long as there is a lack of progress towards returning Fiji to democracy and the rule of law.

The foreign ministry in Canberra says it has noted a paper by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute which calls on Australia to change its stance towards Fiji.

It says as soon as the Fiji interim government takes credible and concrete steps to return Fiji to democracy and the rule of law, consideration will be given to moderating travel and other sanctions.

It says travel sanctions, which apply to less than one per cent of Fiji’s population, remain an effective means of encouraging a return to democracy and the rule of law in Fiji.

Canberra has also ruled out a resumption of defence cooperation as the military commander, Commodore Bainimarama, leads an interim government which the Fiji courts have declared unlawful.

The ministry says Fiji’s suspension from the Forum and involvement in PACER Plus is a matter for the entire region to decide upon

It also says Fiji continues to benefit from privileged access to Australian markets, and Australia remains the largest foreign investor in Fiji, one of its top trading partners and its major source of tourism.

Clamp-down on Media and Lawyers in the pipeline

The military regime is ultra-paranoid about what the media and the legal fraternity can do to possibly jeopardise their one-sided and farcical national forum dialogue.  So they move ahead with more concrete muzzling strategies that take effect from next month.

The media will be told how to do their jobs via a Criminal Procedure Decree, while legal practitioners now have another illlegal body policing how they go about their business.

A regional media freedom watchdog, Pacific Freedom Forum, has already lambasted the military regime's intent to curb media freedom in Fiji.

The chief instigator of all things decreed and illegal in Fiji, Aiyaz Saiyed Khaiyum attempts to placate fellow legal practitioners by saying:

“Being a professional person, if you carry out your work professionally according to the rules and ethics set, then you would not have a concern about the Tribunal. I think those who are probably concerned about this would be people who may not necessarily be adhering to legal rules and codes of conduct.”

Khaiyum probably doesn't really listen to the garbage that comes out of his mouth.

It is more likely that the majority of the legal practitioners who they're trying to muzzle know their profession and appreciate what the legal terms "illegal" & "treason" mean, far better than he and his ex- military legal division partner's in crime -- Ana Rokomokoti and Aca Raiyawa -- ever will.

Who's Importing All The Sri Lankans?

In a very hush-hush move, the very illegal President yesterday swore in two more judicial officers from Sri Lanka.

Who could be facilitating all these imports into our courts?

The illegal CJ Tony Gates has links to Sri Lanka and personally went across to make the pitch to the Sri Lankan Govt. We also suspect that FNPF Board Member,  Ajith Kodagoda, who is also the Sri Lankan consul here (as well as the Chief Financial Officer of CJ Patel) could also be involved.

A New Constitution and A New Fiji (Yaaaaaaaaaaawn)

With increasing stealth akin only to animals associated with slyness, after the usefulness of the the Kadavuan chiefs in the media has subsided, the military regime orchestrates more echoes of support to falsely illustrate both spontaneity and a issue of national priority.

Bainimarama's key supporter within the Chamber of Commerce via its President Swani Maharaj, is cued to now pipe out of left field the need for a new Constitution that must address race issues and take into account the "one vote one value" ethos. Unless this chap is illiterate, he must not have taken the time to read, understand and appreciate the current Constitution which clearly upholds and directs the State to respect equality among the citizens of this country.

In their orchestrated "synchronised" fashion, this is then the cue for Bainimarama to herald his vision of "A New Fiji by 2014"...yaaaaaaaawn again...and try to revive his failed Charter mission by ensuring that 64% of the populace really do support it. Perhaps that is why he is now trail-blazing off to Verata. 

As if to reassure the populace (because he's been caught out on his lies ever since he executed the coup), Bainimarama cements his false promises of this "New Fiji" by once again pledging that elections will really, really, really be held in 2014.


While that's happening, another scripted signal is then given to Bainimarama's illegal Permanent Secretary, Pio Tikoduadua to announce that their "open and transparent" national dialogue forum is still on track to roll out in February. Naturally this meeting will be open and transparent a'la Bainimarama and is therefore skewed to exclude Qarase and his cohorts.

In case many are unaware, this farce of a national dialogue forum is supposed to be the forum that precedes the new Constitution. It would be natural to therefore ask where the open transparency is in that, if members of the public are going to be invited merely to rubber-stamp their plans?

The military regime as far as we know is still looking for a Chairperson to make this happen, and they're probably still looking for the funds to put it all together.

Whatever the case the whole farce is an exercise in futility and a total waste of resources.

We'd advise everyone not to be used by these treasonous terrorists to validate their illegal plans.

Bainimarama's son-in-law pines for access to NZ

So this must be what Bainimarama's recent focus on NZ is all about.

It's all because his son-in-law, and once-upon-a-time rugby player for Massey University wants to relive his glory day's aspires to complete his rugby coaching certificate in NZ, thereby reducing NZ (and Aust) to receive all manner of unnecessary and illogical pressure advising them to ease up on visa bans for the military regime and their families.

Too bloody bad Mr Sorovaki.

It is unlikely that even the IRB will be able to move the NZ Government on this issue.

Our Pension Fund Forgets It's Master(s)

Our superannuation fund FNPF (Fiji National Provident Fund) has been making the news particularly in the month of January and their issues are cause for major consternation.

Firstly by it's very enabling legislation, the FNPF is mandated to have on its board 2 representatives that will rep the best interests of employees:

Part 2—Constitution, Powers and Functions of the Board
Establishment and constitution of the Board 

3.—(1) There is hereby established a board to be called The Fiji National Provident Fund Board consisting of—
(a) 2 persons holding an office of emolument under the State;
(b) two representatives of employers not being persons holding an office of emolument under the State; and (Substituted by Act No. 29 of 1986 s. 2)
(c) two representatives of employees not being persons holding an office of emolument under the State. (Substituted by Act No. 29 of 1986 s. 3)

to be appointed by the Minister who shall appoint 1 of such persons to be Chairman of the Board,
(Amended by Legal Notice 112 of 1970.)

Where that falls apart however is that todate, the board remains unrepresented by valid, legal and credible workers reps.

To recap the whole sorry mess on this front, the Bainimarama military regime soon after instigating the coup swiftly replaced the old workers reps with their then Fiji Labour Party (FLP) buddies Daniel Urai and Felix Anthony who despite their union experience, had no legitimacy and were in no way representative of the majority of the workers in Fiji.

Bainimarama's own words whilst carrying out these illegal and sweeping changes were as follows:

"I have seriously reviewed the status of the Fiji National Provident Fund. This is a major financial institution with billions in assets. Its main beneficiaries are the workers of this country and their families and also serve as a stable fund source. It is therefore highly incumbent upon us to ensure that FNPF always remains in good hands and is operated according to law and due diligence," Commodore Bainimarama said.

"We have seen in the term of Qarase government the FNPF being used as a bottomless pit of funds to finance the extravagant spending and wastage by government. Whenever it needed money it turned to FNPF to finance its growing deficit. Although Government provided good return to the borrowed funds, the time has definitely come to determine the viability of that excessive borrowing."

(All we can say today in response to that hogwash is that nothing has changed where his regime is concerned).

When the military regime had a major falling out with the Mahendra Chaudhy led FLP, their nominees to the FNPF Board were then replaced by  individuals who again have absolutely no legitimacy, credibility or experience to represent workers in this country.

The two pretenders on this front are namely: Mr. Joe Rodan (from the Carlton Brewery-Fosters Group) and Mr. Ajith Kodagoda (a Sri Lankan native and their Honorary Consul in Fiji, as well as the Chief Financial Officer of CJ Patel)

No matter. At least according to section 4 of the FNPF Act, superannuation paying citizens know who to take to task when all this blows over.

So now we get to the FNPF's current shenanigan's which paints the true picture of the gross ineptitude of the current FNPF Board and Management.

For starters, early last year the FNPF had begun to make noises about "changes" in how their members could utilise their pension funds, especially relating to withdrawals causing only one major Union to raise their concerns.

Come January 2010, these new changes become much clearer to the people who actually own this entity.

Because the FNPF decided to undertake an unnecessary PR/branding exercise -- supposedly aimed at their commitment to improved customer services but in reality only impressing and celebrating themselves -- members  were invited to waste their time and line up to obtain new membership cards, just because the new cards now featured their new logo.

Senior managers of the FNPF then decide (backed by their puppet board no less) to take a fully-funded-by-you-and-me-jaunt to Singapore, for the purposes of studying how the Singaporese set up their pension fund and hopefully make similar policy and regulatory amendments to their enabling legislation, the FNPF Act -- which by the way folks will be reviewed without proper workers representation at the Board level and more importantly illegally passed without a fully functional parliament.

So without proper workers representation, it is no wonder that the evolving frankenstein that is the FNPF is forgetting their place as mere custodians of our pension funds and therefore instigating bad policy decisions such as:

1. Permitting withdrawals for investments on companies that the FNPF perversely deems as "investment-worthy" -- a sure-fire recipe for corruption and collusion (and a perfect case in point is a current board member who is employed for the Fosters Group -- one of the FNPF's "preferred" investments).
   
   
2. Reducing educational assistance to low-income workers and additionally inconveniencing customers to pay for calls to their complaints officers who will after all merely appease them.
   
   
3. Reviewing the institutions of higher education whom members should ultimately have the liberty to choose to invest in.
   
   This role and certainly the legal mandate and expertise to assess educational and investment-worthiness against Fiji's productivity needs, resides with the Ministry of Education in conjunction with the Training and Productivity Authority of Fiji (TPAF) who already have a process dealing with institutions wanting to set up shop here. What has transpired here is an overreach of major proportions by the FNPF and perhaps a gross laxity in assesssments undertaken by the Ministry of Education and TPAF.
   
   If FNPF members are complaining about the standards of education they are getting from certain institutions, exactly how many of them are making the complaints as opposed to the members who do believe they are getting value for money from these same institutions, which would thereby justify a major policy re-direction like this affecting all members?
   
   In any case, it is incumbent upon the Ministry of Education's/TPAF's initial assessments of these operators to ensure that a fair and transparent complaints/customer service process is made public and embedded in the set-up mechanisms of these institutions. It would be interesting to see whether the University of Fiji, which immediately lauded the unfair removal of their competition, has themselves such a mechanism in place.
   
   Already we are told that there could be a major set-back to the economy in terms of tourism by a shoddily thought out policy such as this. Furthermore the view lacking in this tunnel-visioned policy is that when more worthy higher education institutions are set up, it generates more local employment which is what the country needs, and at the end of the day is what should be in FNPF's interest.
   
   Other perspectives about fairness in local institutions vs overseas institutions are also baseless. And yes we must make the point about living in a global economy not only because it allows for competition regardless of an institution's geography, but because the bottom line of globalisation is that the customer, at all times, has the liberty to choose who is worthy of their investment dollars.
   
   Hopefully one day workers in Fiji will also be able to choose who is worthy of their pension fund deductions as opposed to a giant insensitive monopoly such as the FNPF.
   
   
4. Stagnating and/or ceasing investment projects (which theoretically are supposed to bring in higher returns to us) such as the Suva Bayview Hospital, the Momi Bay development, the Grand Pacific Hotel upgrade, the Lautoka Retail Complex, the Natadola project etc.
   
   
5. Changing the housing policy.

Now we're not totally unreasonable and are also appreciative of the fact that the FNPF is not a bank nor a welfare fund but the fact of the matter is that when the majority of the funders of the FNPF do not have a valid and credible voice advocating on their behalf within the institution or adequately representing their interests, then the entity can only expect to be treated as a welfare fund because members would prefer to use it all up themselves rather than have the illegal board and management fritter their money away frivolously.

Let's not forget that the law permits the FNPF to obtain 8% of workers salaries every fortnight/month without breaking a sweat, but as a minimum members who forgo this percentage of their hard-earned sweat expect to see some tangible returns on investment, and preferably before they start inching towards their graves.

Incidently folks we STILL await the FNPF Annual Reports of 2008 and 2009, amidst earlier falsified notions of their own financial year calendar followed by further false assurances (read: lies) of our getting copies by December 2009.

We now hear that we will get the Annual Reports only after the illegal cabinet has gone through them (translation: cabinet offers to become the whipping boy because they know they can't be hounded and they will stall the release of the reports indefinitely because they know their sins will be revealed).

If the FNPF's 2007 performance is anything to go by whereby they're paying out (which should be a key feature in the 2009 Annual Report because of the military regime's forced retirement policy) more than they're raking in (backed up by stagnated investments), members can pretty much surmise that their fears of their retirement funds being hijacked to fund the illegal regime's deficits continues to be (as has been) the current norm.

Latest Box Office Flop

Our acknowledgement and sincere thanks to prernaLal.com for this gem.

The Kadavu Home Brew Club Backs Bainimarama

We knew something was up again when news broke of Bainimarama's sudden trip to Kadavu to "inspect development work" over the weekend.

Today we hear that members of the Bainimarama-proclaimed "Home Brew Set" from Kadavu are now backing the treasonous terrorist to the point that they invite him to illegally continue to hold on to the reigns beyond 2014 if need be.

It's almost as if a scripted speech was prepared by the treasoners circle for these puppet chiefs.

What's most entertaining however is the conveniently bestowed freedom of expression to these selected chiefs (and they were even helped media-circulation wise thanks to FBC), without any heed to the threat to national security that these statements may inflame under the BS Public Emergency Regulations.

However no one is fooled. The bottom line is that these chiefs speak for themselves and they MAY speak for their people but they do not present the views of the rest of the populace.

In their haste to curry favour these chiefs have also conveniently forgotten Bainimarama's "pre-6 dec 2006" insults ordering all chiefs to get together for a Home Brew shindig under the Mango Trees.

As the young 'uns would say - SLACK SARA GA.

Bainimarama's Brigadier Bulldog Bark's Warningly

Having seen this illegal lot of treasonous terrorists in action for a while, we can safely say that we've gotten to know their modus operandi.

So when Bainimarama's Brigadier Bulldog Pita Driti is unleashed to bark out his warnings, you know something's up.

At the beginning of the year, Driti is hell-bent on assuring someone/s on Fiji's stability. To the extent that he is brimming with positivity that everything is going according to plan, and they are apparently supported by a fictitious majority of the populace:

“It is clear that everything is now up to our expectations. As a member of the Military council and Interim government I know that majority of our citizens do agree with that – and there are only a few people who could term as adversaries - but I would discourage them from doing anything and I would like to tell them to keep low and try to cooperate with us in trying to maintain peace otherwise they will be in for something really hard in terms of how we will treat them this year.”

Fast-forward two weeks later and Brigadier Bulldog is now baring his teeth in addition to growling like the dog that he is:

“Be careful and keep still, if you are one of them this warning is for you,” he said.

“Let’s work together and move the country forward for the people of Fiji.”

He said the Government would not tolerate any activity that would cause instability in the country.

He said the Government was working hard to take the country forward and the people, especially church leaders, should hold hands with the leaders for a better Fiji.

He said under the emergency regulation Fiji’s military and security forces retained absolute control.

Now the majority of the populace coming out of Christmas and New Years celebrations would be right to scratch their heads in confusion and wonder what the hell brought this on.

But for those who know these idiots as being chiefs of subliminal warnings, the message and the guard-dog bearer of the message is addressing someone/s that obviously makes them all jittery.

Rabuka's cessation of pension is perhaps just a warning shot related to all that.

Teleni Say's Suva is Crime Free

...and for once we wholeheartedly agree with Teleni. Yes Sirree Suva is indeed Crime Free.

The reason why Suva is crime free is because all the major crims are illegally governing the nation, while the smaller crims are being given second chances, they will have access to cellular phone communications, they'll be inducted into the game of basketball or other sports, and be given priority access to land upon their release.

Hell Yes there's something wrong with this picture! It's so wrong that life as a crim might begin to look mighty enticing for many.

Fiji backs NZ into a corner

Now that Bainimarama and the Government of NZ are "buddy-buddy" again, Bainimarama wastes no time and backs them into a corner to test their sincerity by offering up Neumi Leweni, one of those privy to Bainimarama's inner circle, as a Counsellor.

Any of McCully's earlier diplomatic thoughts about re-establishing sincere relations despite the recent clamp-downs are nothing but a pipe-dream. If he doesn't know that Bainimarama only lives by the "us and them" psyche, he should now.

So while Bainimarama waits, so too does McCully.

But as far as many observers to this latest state of affairs go, Bainimarama will continue to insult NZ for their past transgressions against him. He does it to Qarase. He does it to the Methodists. He does it to the Media. He does it to the People. He does it to anyone who is not on his side. What makes NZ any different?

For Bainimarama's part, gaining access into NZ where his supporters abound (like Radio Tarana their mouthpiece in Aotearoa, the Fiji Club in NZ, the Thakurji etc) is the only way the military regime can regain acceptance in the Pacific Islands Forum region. The military regime can not claim similar support in Australia.

With his NZ cheering squad doing what they can publicly, Bainimarama needs to wake up and smell the coffee. For example, how many of his NZ supporters have actually taken advantage of his dual citizenship policy? How many of them have taken advantage of the current generous investment incentives? Not many we're guessing because putting your money where your mouth is is the surest signal of one's sincerity and motivations.

We will watch and wait in anticipation to see how the John Key's Administration will handle this one.

The Dreaming Continues

Once again as we head into 2010, the dream's of wealth to be gained envisioned by the treasonous elite squad of Voreqe Bainimarama's knows no bounds.

This time they try to revive an old Public Service Commission nightmare and are salivating over "what can be" from the rental market value of Government quarters in Suva.

Alas! If only Mr "wet-behind-the-ears-to-the-PSC" Parmesh Chand and his Chairman did some background checks before proposing this policy. If they had not forcefully retired those civil servants over 55, they could have been presented with counter advice by those in possession of institutional history going back to the 90's thereby saving them valuable time and energy.

As a consequence btw of the failed forced retirement policy, they now eat humble pie by offering selective contracts at the prerogative of the mostly militarily linked Permanent Secretaries thereby killing a 2009 dream of Govt savings of up 10% of GDP. And alas that failed dream only benefitted the Disciplined Forces (relatively speaking) in the 2010 budget and the military specifically as evident in their recent Christmas bonuses.

If Parmesh Chand had done his homework like any good CEO should, he would have realized that in the 90's, under the direction of then SVT Finance Minister Jim Ah Koy (yes he does tend to have political longevity this geezer and can always be counted on to put a deal together), the PSC had the same dream of earning major bucks from the proposed sale of Govt quarters -- mostly properties in the Nasese/Domain area.

Unfortunately someone forgot to check who actually owned the land and the conditions of the State Land which those Govt quarters sat on. That quickly ended that dream.

Parmesh Chand is now reviving that idea, but this time aims to rent out those properties at the market rate. Again one would automatically assume that the same input from the landowners is duly required.

Now attempting to raise funds from assets is all very well and good, but:

1. these assets do not wholly belong to the Government and the liberty to therefore sell or rent them out is not theirs; and
2. with the current stagnation of our real estate industry, the market rates they are expecting will not match the size of the pockets of the majority of those seeking housing, neither will the specifications of these residential properties match those who CAN afford it.

Much to our depression, their badly thought out dreams continue while the people of Fiji continue to live the nightmare that is these Treasonous Terrorists.