Fiji ministry says media law reaction 'sensationalised'
Updated
Fiji's interim government has hit back at the barrage of criticism it has been getting from the Australian government and News Limited over its decision to ban foreign ownership of its media.
The new law which caps foreign ownership at 10 per cent directly hits The Fiji Times which is owned and operated by Australian-owned News Limited.
News Limited has just three months to leave the country and Australia's foreign minister has described the move as another example of commodore Frank Bainimarama's attack on free speech and democracy.
Fiji's Ministry of Information says Mr Smith's comments are an exaggeration and that both the minister and News Limited are sensationalising the issues.
Presenter: Philippa McDonald
Speaker: Sharon Smith-Johns, Fiji's Permanent Secretary for Information
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SHARON SMITH-JOHNS: Well the reports from the Foreign Minister Stephen Smith are grossly exaggerated and completely taken out of context.
PHILIPPA MCDONALD: You are banning foreign ownership which essentially means that News Limited's Fiji Times can no longer operate in its current form.
SHARON SMITH-JOHNS: In its current form, that's correct. They can't. And they have had, the consultation process has been going on for some time now and they have been aware of this and now given three months to change that. So it's not a matter of us wanting to close down the Fiji Times. We're simply changing the ownership rules of the Fiji Times.
PHILIPPA MCDONALD: Is it because the Fiji Times was a critical voice of Bainimarama's regime?
SHARON SMITH-JOHNS: No, not at all. I mean every country and as you know I've said before Murdoch left Australia and left, he forego his Australian citizenship to move to America for the very same reasons where he couldn't own media in America. We're simply putting in a decree with very similar rules to Singapore, to Australia to New Zealand.
PHILIPPA MCDONALD: What do you say to Australia's Foreign Minister who says this is another example of Commodore Frank Bainimarama's interim government attacking free speech and democracy?
SHARON SMITH-JOHNS: Oh look I think Stephen Smith should firstly read the media decree, to read the media decree and have a look at it. This is a small part of the media decree which is being highlighted because it's News Limited. But we're forgetting what the rest of the media decree actually says.
So you know I think we should get our facts right before we start shooting off at the mouth.
PHILIPPA MCDONALD: The Fiji Times says over the past couple of years it's been subjected, its staff have been subjected to physical intimidation, troops have occupied the newsroom and the editor has also been threatened and there's been two deportations of its managing directors.
Hasn't that been intimidating and controlling of media's ability to do its job?
SHARON SMITH-JOHNS: We have at the moment, we're monitoring, as you know we're monitoring the media here. And there are clear rules set out for monitoring the media. And we will continue to do that.
PHILIPPA MCDONALD: Why is it necessary permanent secretary?
SHARON SMITH-JOHNS: Um, for national security. I mean I think you have to be in Fiji to understand some of the damage that can be caused in the media here and the sensational headlines, the very biased reporting. And the majority of stories, I'd say 90 per cent of stories are reported in the paper every day.
PHILIPPA MCDONALD: How confident are you that there is a buyer available for the Fiji Times?
SHARON SMITH-JOHNS: I can't comment on that. I don't know the business structure of the Fiji Times or what they've actually been doing to look at the change of ownership there.
PHILIPPA MCDONALD: And what do you say to criticism from the Australian Government that this will harm investor confidence, foreign investor confidence?
SHARON SMITH-JOHNS: I can't see in any way that this has got anything to do with investor confidence. This is a business decision by the Fiji Times of whether they want to continue in the way, they can't continue the way they are, they have to change the ownership. And it has nothing to do with investment in this country.
Investors are working with the Government. We're making reforms. There's land reforms. It has got nothing to do, bringing investment into this story is just again sensationalising the issues.
