POLITICAL ANALYST CAUTIONS PM PHILIP

[SIBC News, 30 December 2010] - Political analyst John Roughan says Prime Minister Danny Phillip needs to start 2011 with strong leadership.

Speaking to SIBC News Dr Roughan says the government's performance since taking office in September this year produces a mixed report card.

While he describes the government's Christmas visit to patients of the National Referral Hospital as a good step forward, the political critic says the Prime Minister is barely keeping his government together.

He says some issues were beyond the Prime Minister's control but the internal squabbling within the doors of government has indicated a lack of strong leadership by the Prime Minister.

He says it is important that Mr Phillip begins the new year with strong leadership.

That is a true and fair warning  that the Prime Minister must take seriously. So far he has proven his worth to be the Prime Minister of Solomon Islands and his ability to hold the various characters within his government together over the past few months must be given some credit.


However, as shown by the above article he has to be strong in his decisions so that the peoples' confidence on him and his government is maintained and enhanced and to avoid being seen as a 'puppet PM' who can be pulled by the nose even if his own integrity and that of the nation is at stake.


Above all, the task of trying to keep the numbers together, given the various differences in opinion and ambition within his government will remain the biggest task for the PM as long as he remains in power.And off course chances are that too if much energy and time will be put towards achieving that, the government's focus on issues of national importance will be distracted and that at the end of the day 'nothing more than just words' and sugar-coated rhetoric will be achieved.

[ABC Radio Australia News, 29 December 2010] - The Fiji Government will soon file a complaint against New Zealand media organizations for earlier reporting the rumoured 'death' of Fiji's interim Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama.

Rumours of the Commodore's death was aired via certain New Zealand media outlets while he was visiting China for a trade mission in late November.

Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has told FijiLive that a complaint will be lodged with the New Zealand Media Council soon.

Commodore Banimarama says the reports of his death had been invented in New Zealand, which has imposed travel sanctions barring him from visiting to seek medical attention for a heart condition.

A number of social websites were also reporting on his rumoured death in China from a heart attack

Dennis McKinlay: Pacific neighbours need our help

[ New Zealand Herald, 27 December 2010] - As New Zealand begins a slow climb out of the recession, it's easy to forget that our neighbours in Pacific island states are far worse off than us - as their incomes fall and costs rise.

Remittances from relatives in New Zealand are a huge source of income to Pacific island states. In 2005 the International Monetary Fund said remittances were worth US$425 million ($567 million), representing 22.5 per cent of Polynesia's income and 40 per cent of Tonga's. Remittances are double the value of overseas aid, says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. 

Although it is not certain how much remittances have changed since the 2008 financial crisis, the evidence about Pacific island economies points to an unhappy cocktail of falling incomes and rising costs and unemployment.

There is a two to one multiplier. A fall of 1 per cent in New Zealand's GDP means a 2 per cent fall in the Pacific island states, says a 2009 Unicef report, called Protecting Pacific Island Children and Women during Economic and Food Crises. With New Zealand's flat economy today, remittances are unlikely to increase for a while.

This report paints a bleak picture of the Pacific, pointing to a tsunami of increased food and fuel prices in Pacific island states, combined with decreased remittances from relatives in New Zealand.

The report found that in previous financial crises, the labour market has taken four or five years to recover.
The Pacific is a huge and complex place. There is a wide disparity in wealth between countries. To explain the differences, the UN Development Programme has produced a Poverty Index. At the top are the Pacific people we mostly see coming to New Zealand - Samoa, Tonga, Niue and the Cook Islands. Fiji is more than twice as poor as Tonga and at the bottom are the Solomons and Papua New Guinea.

The better off Pacific island states have a middle class, Government employees and free primary school education. But in the worse off Pacific countries, such as Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, young children are about 10 times as likely to die as in developed countries.

In Papua New Guinea there is also an HIV/Aids epidemic. Unicef and its partners have had a programme there for years. It is beginning to have some effect, particularly in reducing the rate of transfer of Aids from mothers to children. Continued subsistence agriculture, high child deaths and poverty will be their lot until the circuit is broken.

A reliance on imported food has weakened many of the wealthier Pacific island states. So inflation from imported food has become a serious problem - in Tonga as high as 12 per cent. People are increasingly relying on staples such as bread and rice, rather than fresh vegetables and fruit. A UN study has found nearly half of the average Pacific household budget is spent on food - even in rural areas.

If you live in the country you can probably grow fruit or veges, but for urban slum dwellers, it's not an option.
But the worst hit by the recession are those who find it hard to help themselves: people without land, the elderly, widows, orphans, children in large families, those supporting relatives, unemployed youth and school drop-outs.

Education should be the key for the Pacific island states to climb out of poverty. But even in better off Pacific states, too few children attend secondary school, meaning they remain unskilled.

In the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, too few children attend primary school. Girls are more likely to be kept at home than boys after an economic crisis hits - reflecting the common belief that educating boys is more important. But as girls' rate of school attendance rises there is a measurable improvement in children's health.

The good news is that over the past decade, increasing numbers of Pacific girls and boys are attending primary school. But only the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Tonga and Tuvalu claim 100 per cent attendance at primary school. The report has suggested some simple remedies.

They include improving teacher quality (including paying extra to better or more skilled teachers) and encouraging more girls to attend school. Simple steps, such as providing separate toilets and washing areas for boys and girls will help here.

Unicef favours a broader thrust policy change, focusing on the poorest of the poor. This may mean taking a particular interest in say, urban slum dwellers.

It may mean that NGOs and governments need to co-operate better. It means starting from scratch in some Pacific countries - giving poorer children therapeutic foods and mosquito nets and teaching women and children about their rights - so they can better help themselves. Pacific Governments - perhaps with help from ours - could work on strengthening social policy.

But there is a step that you, the reader, could also take. You could donate to an aid organisation that is running schools in the poorer island states. Or buy a gift for someone in need overseas. It needn't cost much.

Dennis McKinlay is executive director of Unicef New Zealand.

By Dennis McKinla

Which Kelvyn Alp?

I was having a conversation with a friend of mind the other day when I mentioned to him the fact that Kelvyn Alp has been writing a lot of his views in the print media in Solomon Islands, especially in Solomon Star and that I was beginning to wonder what he (Mr. Alp) is actually up to.

My friend turned to me with and asked, which Kelvyn Alp? Kelvyn Alp the miner or Kelvyn Alp anti-capitalism activist?

From this, I totally understand the point of view where my friend was coming from; Kelvyn Alp was allowed to come into Solomon Islands as a miner businessman, not as a person that would try and brain-wash Solomon Islanders with inpragmatic socialist perceptions.

We have all seen and may have read his articles and as far as I am concerned apart from being too patronising,construed and inpragmatic, his views have to me demonstrated why he is a 'blacklisted' person back in his native New Zealand.

He seems to advocate for options which have been proven to be of economically ineffective and infeasible. Most of his views are influenced by socialism ideologies and the fall of the Soviet Block in the late 1990s should have given us enough reason to not to believe in such practices in a large scale, especially also given the fact that economies are becoming interconnected into a single global mainstream.

Well some people may say that Solomon Islands is in many respects has been a socialist society in terms of our traditional market economy where there is the practice of accumulation and redistribution of wealth to ensure equality. But this is only practiced for reasons that are not economical but more or less social in nature.

However if we are to advocate for the maintenance of that market model then we are actually going backwards in terms of our market and economical evolution. And that is one thing we should understand a long time ago that it is not for the best interest of Solomon Islands.

Having said all that, one may ponder why I am so concerned about what Kelvyn Alp thinks. Well, this guy has friends in higher places and within our current government structure his influence is actually present.

He has a lot of direct interest in Solomon Islands governance and I do understand that it was some of his thoughts that were included in the Direct Development Party's (DDP) policy platform, a party which at the moment have few party members with the government and at the PMO.

This guy (Alp) had financially supported the DDP during the last general elections and long before that he already had the current Minister of Education, Hon. Dick Ha'amori and the current Press Secretary to the Prime Minister, Alfred Sasako, within his grips. 

Clearly the Kelvyn Alp we now see is no longer the same person we once known as the guy who came to Solomon Islands bringing much hope for the people. He did some prospecting along Guadalcanal Plains and also at East Kwaio and the people there are still waiting for him to deliver on his promises.

Today, there are even rumours circulating that he may pull out of the mining industry very soon. So one cannot help but wonders what this guy is up to. If those rumours are true then what's next for Kelvyn Alp?

We have seen similar trends in the past where people come in under the guise of  making business and not long after that they are given permanent residence or citizenship status hence making them legally eligible to become candidates for Parliament. Before  we know it they are now candidates vying for one of the parliamentary seats.

Sounds so strange, but it is true. It has happened many times already in the past.

Local Soccer Star Involved in Fatal Christmas Car Accident

Unconfirmed reports reaching Prejduiced have said that local soccer star and international beach soccer sensation James Naka has been involved in a fatal car accident which resulted int he death of a male passenger in Honiara.

The incident was said to have occurred on Christmas night when the Rav-4 vehicle Naka was driving crashed against a coconut tree along the road at the Iron Bottom Sound Hotel, Rove.

The crash resulted in  one casualty and serious injuries to the passengers.

According to the reports there were  6 passengers in all who were traveling in the ANZ-owned vehicle, including a female.

One of the passengers is an ANZ employee and it was believed that he is the one who had taken the vehicle and allowed Naka to drive.

Naka fled the scene of the accident with minor injuries and police are still looking for him around Honiara to for questioning.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Hello everybody. As we all know we are moving into another end of year festive season in Christmas and then the New Year.

So Prejudiced would like to extend our warmest Christmas greetings to you all and wishing you a happy new year.

Please celebrate with care, peace and respect for one another. Through it all, pass the message of harmony and love in whatever you do with your loved ones, family and friends.

Celebrate responsibly and most importantly may this time be a reminder to us always of the glory and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ whose birth will always give us hope and faith.

Glory to our God the Almighty who is our help in ages past and our hope for years to come!

Amen.

China helped create political instability in Pacific islands: Wikileaks

Wellington, Dec 20 : Secret US diplomatic cables released by the whistleblower website 'Wikileaks' have revealed that New Zealand defence officials had warned the US that the Chinese army was creating political instability in the Pacific islands.

According to stuff.co.nz, a cable from 2008 said that New Zealand was concerned about the future of the Pacific islands, ''''which are increasingly turning away from Australia and New Zealand to seek ties with Taiwan, China, Cuba and others''''.

A US briefing from February 2006, says New Zealand officials were concerned that competition between Taiwan and China for resources and diplomatic leaks "contributes to political instability in Pacific Island nations,'''' the leaked cable said.

Further, a cable from September 2006 quoted Riddell, the American sports company, as saying that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) had spoken to Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei during the minister''s trip to Wellington earlier in the year about activities in the Pacific.

According to the International Policy Division Director Paul Sinclair, the People''s Liberation Army (PLA) was providing aid defence forces in the region, especially Tonga and Fiji.

The PLA were outspending New Zealand by ``wide margins'''' in Papua New Guinea, he added.

Pacific Island director Heather Riddell was also quoted as saying in the cable that China''s "rapacious quest'''' for natural resources undermined "good governance, sustainable development and environmental'''' in Pacific Island states.

New Zealand aid officials had also travelled to Taiwan to deliver "a strong message" to Taiwanese officials in this regard, the report said.

--ANI

WikiLeaks cable: NZ's read-out from Pacific Island Forum

[New Zealand Herald, 20 December 2010] -


November 3, 2006
New Zealand's read-out from Pacific Island Forum

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TAGS: PREL, PGOV, NZ, XV, XU
SUBJECT: NEW ZEALAND'S READ-OUT FROM PACIFIC ISLAND FORUM
REF: WELLINGTON 815

Classified By: DCM David J. Keegan for Reasons: 1.4 (B) and (D)

1. (C) Summary: GNZ reports that initial concerns that the Pacific Island Forum (PIF) would be derailed over tensions between Solomon Island and Australia regarding the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomons (RAMSI) were resolved by private dialogue among Leaders during retreat. The sessions between Assistant Secretary Hill and the Leaders was seen by GNZ as especially helpful. The Leaders' communique, calling for review of RAMSI while endorsing its mission, kept momentum moving forward. The PIF targeted energy, transportation and communications as areas for development and requested a progress report by 2007 Forum. GNZ is developing visa scheme to enhance labor mobility for Pacific Islanders.

2. (C) On November 1, ECONOFF discussed New Zealand's assessment of the outcome of the Pacific Island Forum (PIF) meetings with Heather Riddell, Director of the Pacific Division at Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT). Despite GNZ's initial concerns that regional tensions would make the PIF meetings complex and contentious, the final results turned out better than expected. The initial tension between RAMSI and the Government of the Solomon Islands (GOS), as well as Papua New Guinea's role in helping suspended GOS Attorney General Moti escape to the Solomons, were issues that GNZ feared could cause the Melanesian countries to take an "us vs. them" stance at the forum (see reftel). Riddell explained that GOS's opening position was a strong demand for reform of RAMSI with greater regional discussion to obtain independent review of its mission and a call for an exit strategy. Despite calls to also replace Forum Secretary General Greg Urwin as an anti-Australian gesture, Mr. Urwin's appointment was extended for another term.

RAMSI Reaffirmed but Under Review

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3 (C) Riddell maintained that derailment of the forum was prevented by a private retreat among the Leaders which ensured that cooler heads prevailed. The Leaders formulated a communique expressing strong endorsement for RAMSI while simultaneously calling for close consultations with GOS and PIF. Leaders also agreed to establish a taskforce to review RAMSI and report back to Foreign Ministers who will make recommendations to Leaders. The consultative mechanism between the GOS, RAMSI and the PIF would be chaired by the representatives of the Forum Chair and involve senior representatives of the Forum Troika of past, present and incoming chairs. The timeframe for these reviews remains vague but GNZ would prefer sooner rather than later.

"Grass roots" Economic Priorities

---------------------------------

4. (C) GNZ supports Leaders call for efforts to intensify regional cooperation in relation to energy, transportation and telecommunications (ICT). GNZ will be having additional consultations with the PIF Secretariat later this month to ensure that the adopted resolutions maintain traction. Their hope is that specific implementing action occurs prior to next forum. GNZ sees these economic sectors as having the greatest "grass roots" benefits.

Labor Mobility - Seasonal Work Scheme

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5. (C) Riddell reported that GNZ is currently working with their Immigration Dept. to implement a seasonal work scheme to encourage NZ farmers and vintners to employ Pacific Islanders as short term agricultural workers. Under the new scheme, if accredited employers can demonstrate there are no Kiwis available to do the work, the Government will first consult with Pacific Island countries before making these jobs available to others. This scheme is not to detract from current working holiday permits.

McCormick

WikiLeaks cable: Frictions could derail Pacific Island forum

[New Zealand Herald, 19 December 2010]

This is one of the diplomatic cables about New Zealand held by Wikileaks.

October 18, 2006

SUBJECT: NZ WORRIES FRICTIONS COULD DERAIL PACIFIC ISLAND FORUM

Classified By: DCM David J. Keegan,for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

1. (C) Summary: New Zealand is working behind the scenes to help ensure that frictions over the Solomon Islands and other regional issues do not derail the October 23-26 Pacific Island Forum (PIF) meetings. PMs Clark and Howard are scheduled to discuss their goals for the meeting by telephone on October 18. NZ officials would like leaders to commit to streamline PIF architecture within the next few years without endorsing any specific proposals, and to agree on a format for future Pacific Forum Dialogue (PFD) meetings. On the Pacific Plan, NZ would like to see the PIF agree to examine the potential benefits of integrating regional transportation, information technology and communications. New Zealand officials intend to offer a new visa program for seasonal agricultural workers from the Pacific Islands, which should complement Australia's plan to finance regional training centers for skilled labor. End Summary.

Tensions in the Air

2. (C) On October 17, DCM and Pol-Econ Couns discussed New Zealand's goals for the PIF meetings with Deputy Foreign Secretary Alan Williams and Heather Riddell, Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade's Pacific Division. Williams said the GNZ is concerned that regional tensions have the potential to make the PIF meetings complex and contentious. PM Clark will call PM Howard this Friday to discuss ways to prevent a dust-up as well as to discuss other goals for the meetings.

3. (C) Williams said conflicts between the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) and GOS, as well as Papua New Guinea's role in helping suspended GOS Attorney General Moti escape to the Solomons, are both potential flashpoints that GNZ fears could cause the Melanesian countries taking an "us vs. them" stance at the meetings. This could prevent the PIF from endorsing RAMSI's work and erode the Mission's ability to operate. NZ believes one possible solution is to have regular consultations between the Solomons, RAMSI, and the PIF, to "provide a circuit breaker on Solomons/RAMSI tensions. The Melansian Spearhead Group went to Canberra recently to discuss this idea. Williams acknowledged that Australia might be anxious that the proposal would undermine RAMSI, but this possibility could be minimized through careful planning. Another possibility would be to put a PIF representative in Honiara. Virtually every PIF country has a role in RAMSI, and more dialogue would put a helpful regional "fingerprint" on the Mission, said Williams.

4. (C) Riddell and Williams downplayed rumors that the PIF will vote to replace Forum Secretary General Greg Urwin as an anti-Australian gesture, although Melanesia may run another candidate to symbolically "stir the pot." There are no serious candidates out there, Riddell said. She also said she does not believe that recent anti-Government remarks by Fiji's military commander Bainimarama posed an immediate threat to the PIF or the GOF, although NZ is watching the situation closely. Bainimarama will be in the Middle East for the next three weeks, she added. (Yesterday, Foreign Minister Peters issued a statement strongly condemning the Commodore's remarks. This morning, PM Clark told a local radio news program that she took Bainimarama's threats seriously.)

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NZ Agrees with US on Regional Institutional Reform

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5. (C) Riddell said GNZ agrees with the USG view (reftel) that streamlining the PIF by consolidating existing organizations could have legal and financial implications for non-PIF members. For this reason NZ does not want the PIF to endorse any specific proposals at next week's meetings. But streamlining is an idea "long overdue," and GNZ therefore would like leaders to establish a task force and give it a fairly short time frame within which to make its report.

Riddell said NZ hopes the work could be done in two to three years, but she acknowledged this was ambitious.

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PIF Needs to Endorse PFD Restructuring and the Pacific Plan

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6. (C) Riddell said that the PIF Senior Officials' meeting she attended had made good progress in suggesting ways to maximize PFD meetings, but it is now up to the leaders. New Zealand's goal is for leaders to support the findings of the PFD review, acknowledging there are some practical issues to work through. If the PIF and the PFD endorse the broad proposal, they could then work inter-sessionally on additional "tweaks," and implement the plan by next year's meeting. Riddell said GNZ does not believe that a new format will in itself maximize PIF/partner interaction, but it will be a good start.

7. (C) Noting the Pacific Plan's goal of regional integration, Riddell said GNZ will propose the PIF focus on the potential impact on PIF countries and the region of integrating three key sectors: information technology and communications, energy, and transportation. She said that it was impossible to focus on the 24 goals laid out in the Plan, which clearly cannot all be priorities.

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Labor Mobility

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8. (C) According to Williams and Riddell, NZ and Australia both plan to introduce new measures to respond to PIC leaders' interest in improving conditions for regional labor mobility. On the day of our meeting, NZ Government Ministers met to approve a plan to encourage NZ farmers and vintners to employ Pacific Islanders as short term agricultural workers. GNZ issues about 90,000 temporary visas annually for seasonal work, mostly to those already here on working holiday or tourist visas. Just under 6 percent are issued to Pacific Islanders. Under the new scheme, if accredited employers can demonstrate there are no Kiwis available to do the work, the Government will provide them with the names of eligible Pacific Islanders. This presumably will be easier for the farmers than locating workers from around the country.

According to Williams, Australia plans to offer funding for regional training centers, making it possible for more skilled Pacific Island workers to migrate to find work because they have the skills Australian and other foreign employers seek, not because of nationality preferences.

Williams said that GNZ will implement its program with deliberation, to avoid potential problems. GNZ also wants to be careful to be seen as complementing Australia's approach, rather than as more open to PIC workers than Australia. Both proposals serve different needs, said Williams, so should complement rather than compete with each other.

McCormick

WikiLeaks cable: NZ ponders future Fiji, Solomons policies

[New Zealand Herald- 21 December 2010]


February 14, 2007
NZ ponders future Fiji, Solomons policies

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SUBJECT: NZ PONDERS FUTURE FIJI, SOLOMONS POLICIES
REF: A. WELLINGTON 69
B. WELLINGTON 68
C. 06 WELLINGTON 966

Classified By: DCM David J. Keegan, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

1. (C) Summary. PM Clark strongly supports the timeline and processes recently discussed by Australian, New Zealand, and US officials to encourage Fiji's return to democracy. The GNZ believes that the upcoming Pacific Island Forum (PIF) Eminent Person's Group report on Fiji will be key to determining whether the PIF can place constructive pressure on Fiji's interim government to improve its human rights record and accept a timeline for new elections. The EPG's draft report is apparently quite firm, but NZ officials are concerned it may be toned down by senior PNG and Vanuatu leaders reluctant to erode Melanesian solidarity. The GNZ also continues to monitor the Solomon Island's with concern, and believes the GOSI's dispute with the Regional Assistance Mission (RAMSI) may be at a critical point. NZ officials worry that the simultaneous conflicts in the Solomons and Fiji may overwhelm the PIF and break down unity within the group. End Summary

2. (C) PM Clark is fully on board with the approach to Fiji endorsed by U.S., Australian, and NZ officials during their recent meetings in Hawaii, Deputy Foreign Secretary Alan Williams told DCM and Pol-Econ Couns on February 12. Williams said the PM intends to retain NZ's sanctions (ref C) until Fiji's interim agrees to a specific timetable for a return to elections. At that point, the GNZ will review whether to loosen up sanctions as well as consider electoral and other possible assistance.

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EPG Delivers Firm Message

-------------------------

3. (C) The DCM noted that even with a timetable for elections, it will be hard to make real progress without an improvement in Fiji's human rights situation. Williams agreed, noting that the upcoming Pacific Island Forum (PIF) Eminent Persons Group report to PIF Foreign Ministers will play a key role in determining whether the group will place effective pressure on PM Bainimarama and his appointees. The GNZ has heard that the draft report does in fact deliver a united, firm message on what Fiji needs to do to return to democracy. It calls for a suspension of the state of emergency, a return of the military to the barracks, the appointment of a civilian PM before the elections, and a credible date to be set for elections within 15-24 months. Williams attributed the strong message to the fact that that the PNG and Vanuatu EPG members were reportedly even more shocked than others in the group by the strong climate of fear they found in post-Coup Fiji. They apparently feel the Fijian Foreign Minister misled the December meeting of the Melanesian Spearhead group, which came out in solidarity with Fiji. (Using a Kiwi expression we had not heard before, Williams said that they felt they had been "sold a pup.") But Williams acknowledged that EPG's draft may be softened if senior PNG and Vanuatu leaders believe the report is too detrimental to Melanesian Spearhead Group unity.

4. (C) Williams said that Bainimarama appeared very confident when he met with the EPG. The Commodore put a statement into the EPG report noting it will be at least five years before Fiji can hold elections, and all sanctions must be removed before any balloting takes place. Figuring out "how to get rid of Frank" will be key to resolving the situation in Fiji, Williams said. Although Bainimarama claims Fiji needs at least five years to drive out corruption before elections can be held, in reality he is focused on keeping out of jail. Fiji's statute of limitations run between three and five years, so Bainimarama will not be keen to hold elections within two years unless he has some guarantee of immunity. On the other hand, a united PIF front, coupled with Fiji's desire to be back in the fold and the unfreezing of assistance, could break the impasse. For this reason, Williams said, we should maintain pressure to get Fiji to agree to the timeline and processes discussed in Hawaii.

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Possible NZ Assistance to Fiji Democracy Building

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5. (C) Michael Green, NZ's High Commissioner in Suva, was in Wellington last week and met with PM Clark and Williams. WELLINGTON 00000141 002 OF 002 Green pointed out that that there has not been a robust census in Fiji for at least 12-13 years. If the interim Fiji government agrees to a timeline, Williams said one useful form of assistance might be to do a new census and advise on a new seat allocation for Parliament. Over the longer term, it might also be helpful to provide advice on reform of Fiji's constitution, which currently enforces a multi-party system without mandating any inter-party negotiation. This has increased internal conflicts and undermined public faith in government.

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Critical Juncture in Solomons

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6. (C) Williams said that New Zealand continues to monitor the Solomon Islands with concern, as events there -- notably the GOSI's opposition to RAMSI -- may be reaching a critical juncture. Simultaneous pressures from events in Fiji and the Solomons could undermine PIF coherence, he added. Williams passed along "fulsome thanks" to EAP DAS Davies for having stressed to PM Sogavare that it is critical that the GOSI continue to cooperate with RAMSI. Williams added that while GNZ has been a bit more light-handed publicly in its approach to the GOSI than has Australia, they understood why Foreign Minister Downer felt he had no other choice but to speak out openly. FM Peters prefers to deliver his strong messages to GOSI behind closed doors, but he and other Kiwi officials have been coordinating exceptionally closely with their Australian counterparts. Now that both the Acting Police Commissioner and his Deputy are Kiwis, New Zealand may find itself forced to express its concerns more directly from now on, Williams added.

McCormick