Australian High Commission Ball

One of the many things that makes Australians special is the fact that our High Commissioner has not had to flea Fiji for his own safety…. Unlike New Zealander, Michael Green. I am not making light of the situation… it’s just that in the Tri-Nations our Wallabies were defeated by the All Blacks…. so it’s my come back. What makes matters worse, is that the Kiwi High Com residence is right next door to Interim Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama (AKA Frank). Did Mr Green throw his rubbish over the back fence into Mr Bainimarama’s house? Am I speaking metaphorically here…. I’ve been teaching way too much poetry lately!

Not that Australia’s rated highly in Frank’s book at the moment… he’s still upset about the eight Australian soldiers who managed to clear customs at Nadi airport straight after the coup. Did Australia pose a military threat… if that is true… why have we seen no action? Hmmm… maybe nobody would have bought the story that Fiji had Weapons of Mass Destruction…. not that anyone bought Johnny Howard’s WMD story for Iraq. Speaking of… how silly did Dr. Condoleezza Rice look when interviewed during the APEC talks in Sydney last week? Very silly indeed, if you ask me. Her name means “with sweetness” in Italian… so maybe … just maybe… with sweetness she can work on fixing up Iraq.... no evidence of that yet.

The Australia High Commission ball raised funds for Lautoka Hospital… a worthy cause. The Fiji Police Band got a lot of people up and dancing and I I was certainly “mending the tiles” (Jamiorquai).

SPG (South Pacific Games) has just finished on Sunday.. the closing ceremony was an extravaganza but there was some serious air time given to the ceremonially dressed Samoan Police force folding up the flag. Fair enough if they accidentally dropped it… that would be a disgrace and a bit funny.. it was kinda interesting when they couldn’t untie it from the flag pole… but meanwhile there was some great New Caledonian dance going down on the stage and we have 6 minutes of watching 10 grown men fold up a flag. I don’t understand. I fold up my laundry every week and I don’t think that would make good television airtime… so I am wondering what made the broadcasters think we needed to see this flag being folded up by a bunch of cops in hard hats… what is it with those hard hats?