immigration image

Polishing up Australia's immigration image

Prom a Suva correspondent After nearly four years in Fiji as Australian High Commissioner, tall urbane Bob Birch has departed to a new posting in the Depart ment of Foreign Affairs, Canberra.

He leaves the task of polishing-up Australia’s immigration image in the hands of 46 year-old Rowen Osborn, who held diplomatic postings in Karachi, The Hague, Tokyo and London before returning to Canberra in 1967 as an assistant secretary in Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Osborn’s territory as Aus tralian High Commissioner includes Tonga and Western Samoa, as well as Fiji. . . .

He arrives at a time when Aus tralia’s image as a land of golden opportunity is more than a little tarnished in the minds of Pacific Islanders seeking to migrate there.

It’s a thorny problem—and like ly to become thornier still in view of recent worldwide publicity about Australia’s “racialist policies”.

In the past, Mr. Birch has answered “colour bar” accusations as diplo matically as possible, pointing out that liberalisation of the conditions under which non-Europeans were able to take up permanent residence in Aus tralia had led to the emigration of a number of families from Fiji.

“Our reputation is affected by the inability of everyone to pop on a plane and go,” he said recently.

“Many applicants do not realise that Fiji people are not the only ones needing a visa for Australia.

Americans and others also need them,”

Commenting on charges of “com mercial exploitation”, the former High Commissioner said that Aus tralian “risk capital” had made a

significant contribution to Fiji’s development. .

Much of the private capital required by Fiji over the next few years would come from Australia, he said. Con fidence in Fiji’s economy was re flected in the fact that Fiji had been granted unique permission to raise loans on the Australian market.

Meanwhile, in Suva an actior initiated by Mr. L. G. Ushei’, pub' lisher of The Fiji Times, against the Pacific Review claiming libel anc defamation, has been won by Mr Usher. Mr. Usher charged that tht newspaper had carried on an im proper campaign against him ai mayor and as editor. The Suprem Court dismissed four of the fiv counts but found the fifth proved an awarded $5,000 to Mr. Usher.

And the Supreme Court in lafl January dismissed a charge of cot tempt of court brought against M Usher and The Fiji Times over ai article written by Mr. R. W. Robso a year ago. In it, Mr. Robson dea forthrightly with allegations made t the Pacific Review that he and hi publications were “racist” and ant Indian”. The Fiji law authority charged some months later that tt article was in contempt because tl libel action brought by Mr. Ushi against the journal had not yet bee heard.

This double success coincided wit the award—in the new year honou. list—of the CBE to the NZ-boc Mr. Usher, who has lived for • years in Fiji and was for three tern mayor of Suva. (See p. 85).