Australia will continue to stand with Fiji as the country is a few days away from the General Election.

While opening the 24th Attorney General’s Conference in Nadi, Australian High Commission Chargé d’affaires John Williams says there has never been a more important time to support democratic governance.

Williams says there’s a lot of interest in Fiji’s national election, including in Australia, which is natural given Fiji’s importance as a partner for them in regional and global affairs.

“It goes without saying that we’re committed to building on this close collaboration with Fiji with the government that the people of Fiji elect to the office on the 14th of December.”

Williams also highlights they are delighted to be again partnering with India and Indonesia to coordinate a Multinational Observer Group (or MOG) for the 2022 election.

“We see it as a valuable contribution, important for both the credibility of the electoral process (and therefore for the elected government that will follow) and also to continue to support reforms to Fijian electoral democracy, as the MOG has done through a series of recommendations following the 2014 and 2018 elections.”

He says they look forward to building on their governance work, including aid programs supporting the national parliament, media capacity, and electoral administration.

According to Williams, it’s been a vibrant and prosperous period of late for Australia-Fiji relations as the two governments are, working together more closely and effectively than ever have before.

He adds that the spirit of the Vuvale Partnership, signed in 2019, is a cogent model for the sort of genuine two-way partnerships Australia wants to develop across the Pacific.