The small
island Republic of Nauru’s official motto is "God's Will First”.
I strongly
suspect that Nauru has unofficially changed it to “Turnbull's Will First” ahead of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s
visit to the Pacific Islands Forum, with an eye turned towards protecting annual funding coming from the
Australian Government.
So banning
ABC employees from entering the country would have been an easy decision for
the Government of Nauru to make given the current Australian prime minister’s well known
animus towards the Australian Public Broadcasting Corporation.
Statement from Republic
of Nauru – Update for media attending Sept 2018 Pacific Islands Forum
The
Government of Nauru looks forward to welcoming media from across the Pacific
region and further afield, to cover the upcoming Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in
September. Due to very limited accommodation we have had to place restrictions
on the number of people from all sectors who are able to attend, including
government delegations and the media. There has been no restrictions placed on
media attendance for any reason other than this indisputable fact of
accommodation and facility availability. We are confident that a wide cross
section of media will attend, as they have for previous forums. Of course, as
is the case for anyone entering Nauru – and indeed every other sovereign nation
– all are expected to abide by their visa guidelines (in this instance a
specific PIF media visa will be issued with no associated fees), respect the
laws of our country, and not engage in activities that cause or encourage
disruption or civil unrest.
We
recognise that media from Australia have a unique interest in Nauru due to our
partnership with Australia as part of its border security operations. While we
will ensure that some media representatives from Australia will attend along
with other Pacific and wider media, we will be requesting they follow all
guidelines and directions of authorities in order to ensure the safety and
security of citizens and residents of Nauru. There are unique security and
safety issues in Nauru that must be considered and respected, and the
Government reserves the right to revoke the visa of any person that breaches
their visa conditions.
We
are ensuring that along with other media from Australia, at least one
Australian TV news outlet will be able to cover the PIF and footage will be
available to other outlets who are not able to attend.
It
is important that media representatives travelling with national political
leaders or heads of state – specifically from Australia and New Zealand – are
aware that they still must apply for accreditation and an appropriate visa
through the website of the Government of Nauru, as per normal procedures. No
person can enter Nauru without a valid visa and anyone attempting to do so,
irrespective of who they are travelling with, will not be allowed entry.
Accreditation applications have now closed as per PIF guidelines, however
applications will still be accepted until 5pm Nauru Time on July 3, 2018, from
any representatives who wish to travel to PIF as part of a ‘pool’ with their
national leader and has not yet applied. Again, these spots are limited
(particularly by accommodation) and will be included in (not separate from) the
overall media numbers which are still to be finalised. Media that have been
issued accreditation will be advised soon, as will those applicants who we
could not accommodate.
It
should be noted that no representative from the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation will be granted a visa to enter Nauru under any circumstances, due
to this organisation’s blatant interference in Nauru’s domestic politics prior
to the 2016 election, harassment of and lack of respect towards our President
in Australia, false and defamatory allegations against members of our
Government, and continued biased and false reporting about our country. It is
our right, as it is the right of every nation, to choose who is allowed to
enter.
ABC News Director Gaven
Morris responded, saying the broadcaster "vigorously defends our role in
doing independent reporting on our region".
"The ABC does not
intend to vacate our position in the media pool covering the Pacific Islands
Forum in Nauru," Mr Morris said.
"The Nauruan
Government should not be allowed to dictate who fills the positions in an
Australian media pool.
"It can hardly
claim it is 'welcoming the media' if it dictates who that media will be and
bans Australia's public broadcaster."
For the cameras Malcolm Bligh Turnbull pretends he has no power to intercede.
Even if Turnbull didn't want to make a personal approach to the President of Nauru - for heaven's sake - we have gone to the expense of maintaining a High Commission on that 21 km² slip of an island since August 2009.
If he so wished Malcolm Turnbull can make the High Commissioner earn her generous salary by having her present a formal request from the Australian foreign minister to allow ABC jounalists and a camera crew to attend the Pacific Islands Forum.
However, as it is highly likely that Nauru's ban is only an anticipation of Turnbull's wishes I won't be holding my breath.
