Articles

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Fiji

 AUSTRALIA COMMENDS FIJIAN GOVERNMENT’S SWIFT RESPONSE TO COVID-19

Solidarity is at the core of the Fiji-Australia Vuvale Partnership. This underpins the support provided by Australia to Fiji to assist in the revival of the Fijian economy and safeguard Fijians from the pandemic. This was the message conveyed by Australian High Commissioner to Fiji, John Feakes, in an exclusive interview with the Fiji Ministry of Foreign Affairs this month.

Mr Feakes commended the decisive leadership of Honourable Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama and the Fijian Government that has led Fiji being “COVID contained”. He said Australia is working closely with the Fijian Government to establish and implement the most effective ways to further support Fiji’s efforts to revive its economy.

Speaking on the recent visitations by the resident Heads of Missions of Australia, United States, New Zealand and Japan to the Western Division, Mr Feakes said it brought to light the challenges faced by grassroots communities who depend on the tourism sector for their livelihoods.

In consideration of the plight of Fijian communities and the tourism sector, Australia’s top priority in terms of immediate potential assistance to Fiji is coordination of a travel bubble.

“Our entire development program has pivoted very quickly to assist Fiji to deal with the response to COVID-19 and from now on with the economic aftermath of COVID-19 so we will be looking at the package of economic support to help Fiji deal with this crisis.

“I think it is fair to say also that the Fijian Government has been very clear about its interest in joining the travel bubble with Australia and we understand absolutely how critical is it to get Australian tourists back into Fiji as quickly as possible.

“We heard very directly from affected communities’ people who have lost their jobs because of the down turn in the tourism sector and the impact it is having on the economy in the West and broadly. It reinforced in my mind the importance of working as quickly as we can to get some sort of travel bubble between the three countries up and running,” Mr Feakes said.

He said Australia’s assistance is strategically driven towards development and welfare of Fijian communities.

“Fiji Government’s announcement of the Bula Bubble arrangements are a wonderful indication of how much thinking has been done on the part of the Fijian Government, and the arrangements that will need to be put in place so that’s useful and it also reinforced in our minds, to adjust our aid program to deal with this emerging economic downturn. And to make sure that our development program is meeting the needs of the Fijian Government and the Fijian people,” Mr Feakes explained.

Australia’s recent assistance to Fiji is valued around FJD30 million and for the first time, direct budget support has been part of the assistance for COVID-19 and TC Harold rehabilitation.
“We have also provided a range of medical equipment tests and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The budget support is a very fast and effective way of supporting Fiji and it demonstrates our confidence in the Fijian Government’s management of its resources, we don’t do this in many places in the world but we do it in Fiji.

“We have also assisted the Ministry of Women to provide money for social security top-up and we provided large amounts of supplies in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Harold through supply of temporary shelters, water desalination, equipment to rebuild and financial assistance as well. Our Australian Defense Force flew in quite a bit of equipment in addition to the financial support we provided,” Mr Feakes said.

The foundation for Fiji-Australia cooperation is the Vuvale Partnership which was signed in 2019 between Fijian Prime Minister, Honourable Voreqe Bainimarama and Australian Prime Minister, the Honourable Scott Morrison MP.

One of the most memorable and historic moments of the Vuvale Partnership was the deployment of the Bula Force, a 54-member engineering contingent from the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) who worked with the Australian Defence Forces as part of Fiji’s response to Australia’s bushfire recovery efforts.

In addition to our growing defense partnership, Australia is working with Fiji to develop a first of its kind facility in Nadi - Blackrock – a facility that is fully funded by the Australian Government and will provide world-class training facilities to members of the RFMF as well as defense forces around the region. 

“That was a commitment made by Fiji that Australia and communities affected by the bushfires will never forget – and that that Bula Force will never forget. They did fantastic work and I think since then, Australia has reciprocated when COVID struck Fiji, we moved quickly to mobilize support and again when TC Harold hit we moved quickly to provide support to Fiji,” Mr Feakes said.

Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) Bula Force in Australia to assist with the Australian bushfire rehabilitation

Australian Defence Forces cooperation with the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) Peacekeepers