One of Fiji’s most prominent traditional and political figures is warning the country’s lawmakers “not to approve” two major bilateral agreements with Australia.
In early July, the Fijian and Australian prime ministers signed the Vuvale Union and the Ocean of Peace Alliance (Veitacini Treaty), marking a major upgrade to relations between the two nations.
The Vuvale Union is a broad political and economic framework, while the Veitacini Treaty is the specific defence and security pillar within that wider strategic partnership. Both governments have hailed the agreements as “significant” for future Fiji-Australia relations.
Australian PM Anthony Albanese said that signing the agreements was “one of the most significant endeavours” Australia had undertaken with any country.
Fiji and Australia say the agreements will strengthen cooperation on security, economic development, climate resilience and regional stability.
However, Ratu Tevita Mara, a paramount chief of Lau Province, is urging the Fiji parliament to withhold approval of both agreements “until the people of Fiji have been given a full, fearless and independent account of what these treaties commit our nation to”.
“Both treaties were signed in Suva on 6 July 2026. Under our [2013] Constitution, neither binds Fiji until Parliament approves it, and both are now before Parliament’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence,” he said in a media statement.
“This is the moment – the last moment – for Fiji to examine them properly. Once ratified, they cannot easily be undone.”
He said the examination of the agreements needed to be given sufficient time, independent advice and public participation.
“Let me be clear: this is not a rejection of Australia. It is a defence of Fiji,” he said.
He described Australia as a “valued friend” but noted that an arrangement “presented in the language of family and cooperation” must still be read line by line.
“We must not accept terms whose deeper consequences become apparent only after Fiji is bound.
“Friendship must never require blindness. Cooperation must never become subordination. And no government has the right to gamble with the sovereignty of future generations.”
Ratu Tevita, who is one of the deputy chairs of Fiji’s Great Council of Chiefs (Bose Levu Vakaturaga), is calling on the Great Council of Chiefs to meet to discuss the issue.
