Review of travel sanction policy almost complete - Bishop

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the review of the travel sanction policy is almost complete.

This follows the first ever bilateral talks between Fiji’s Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama and Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop since December 2006 yesterday.

Bishop said the meeting with Commodore Bainimarama went for an hour, running overtime but he was engaged and laughed a lot.

She said yesterday the bans had been ineffective and the policy was under review.

Bishop said during the meeting she outlined to Commodore Bainimarama Canberra’s extensive new policy program towards Fiji.

According to Bishop when Commodore Bainimarama raised the travel sanctions issue, she said the past 56 requests for exemptions had been granted, with just one rejected, on technical grounds.

She said recently, they have been providing a significant number of exemptions on compassionate, humanitarian and national interest grounds.

Bishop said a review of the policy was almost complete, and the next opportunity to take it to cabinet would be very soon when he steps down as army chief.

Bishop told The Weekend Australian that they want to normalise relations ahead of an election.
 
She said she wants Australia to be the partner of choice in the Pacific and there is an opportunity with their new government to start afresh.

Bishop also said that during the meeting late yesterday afternoon, Commodore Bainimarama discussed the election process, and indicated he was prepared for whatever role resulted, even if he were to lose the prime ministership.

She said he also talked about a range of post-election scenarios.

Bishop presented Commodore Bainimarama with a jersey of the West Coast Eagles AFL team, signed by its ethnic Fijian star ruckman Nic Naitanui.


Story by: Filipe Naikaso
[Source: The Weekend Australian]