A Fiji Christian View

From an interview by Mark Raper with Lorini Tevi, general sec retary of the Pacific Council of Churches, in Development News Digest December 1978: In the Pacific there seems to be an ambiguous attitude towards Australia and New Zealand. Perhaps a sense of fear and a desire to keep these larger countries out?

It is not a totalfear, but there is a realfear of the great damage they would do. We know now what Australia has done to the Pacific, for example in Fiji. A ustralia has the greater portion of profits and investments here; they are not really helping us to sustain ourselves to be self-supporting. If there is a power that dominates economic life, then we cannot play our role in part nership together. This moment in the Pacific is like our ado lescent period where we are trying to find our identity. It is better to get the parents out sometimes. Once we really gain our identity and solidarity, then we can realise our interdependencies. We want to come to a more mature and solid basis of exchange where we can discuss things openly and honestly without that feeling of inferiority that you are the father and that you have everything and that you are just giving it out to us. That is the

struggle. ’