Excerpt: Fiji Ambassador on Normalizing Relations with Australia
Eddie Walsh: - Assuming the elections happen and you live up to your commitments, do you see the relationship with Australia being easily normalized?
Ambassador Winston Thompson: - I would think so. Presumably, once we have elections and installed an elected government, then there would be a completely different situation from the point of view of what has been there previously. One would hope things would be totally normalized.
Eddie Walsh: - But do you see any major obstacles to normalizing relations? After the last couple of years, are you concerned at all about bias or pre-judgments on either end? Will history and the past be an obstacle?
Ambassador Winston Thompson: - No, I don’t think so. There have been good relations. We get something like 300,000 Australian visitors per year which is quite a big statement of what the average Australian feels. And, I think that is reflected generally in Australia.
