Press conference with Fiji Health Minister Waqainabete

Speaker:

We will start then. Welcome again to this press conference for the visit of the Honourable Senator Zed Seselja, Australia’s Minister for International Development and the Pacific. Sir, on behalf of the Minister for Health, we welcome you again to this country.

Zed Seselja:

Thank you.

Speaker:

And we acknowledge the presence of his excellency High Commissioners of Australia to Fiji and members of the entourage.

So for this morning we’ll start, I invite the Honourable Minister Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete, Minister for Health and Medical Services in Fiji to start and deliver his remarks.

Ifereimi Waqainabete:

Naka. Thank you very much. Vinaka vake levu Chief. Your Excellency, Senator Zed Seselja, the Minister for the Pacific in Australia and your entourage, we again are very grateful that you are able to come to the Ministry of Health this morning. And on behalf of the Fijian people, the Fijian government and also the Ministry for Health, I’d like to convey our sincere gratitude for the support that Australia has rendered to us, not only in Covid but also before Covid. And these have been many.

Sir, this is also the support of Australia to Fiji has included strengthening and the training of our human resources, some of our senior clinicians now have also spent time in Australia in some of the larger hospitals and also to the scholarships that are given through the Australian Scholarship program. Also the support that’s been rendered through a million vaccines that have come through with – for COVID-19. The areas of ongoing training, Australia and New Zealand MAT (Medical Assistance Teams) that were here. We’ve seen how Australia has been able to at short notice bring over the team, the expertise, and also the resources that they’ve brought with them, which includes also the three ambulances, which was very useful in the peak of the COVID-19 community outbreak here in the Central Division.

We’ve also had ongoing expertise rendered through to Fiji from Australia both virtually and also through the support of the embassy here and DFAT and also the facility. And not forgetting the areas of support and coordination and networking that’s happening outside of COVID-19, for example, the training that’s happened to the midwives and also to nurses looking after neonatal care and the cold-chain [storage] that’s been able to strengthen our ability to drive our vaccination program.

One of the reasons why we are able to sit here today in this room with relatively quite a few of us and the Honourable Minister and I are able to take off our mask in this press conference is because of Australia and our vuvale’s tremendous support to Fiji. And I was just reflecting this morning that in the midst of our challenges they stood by us. And that’s what a true vuvale is. And we thank you, sir, and we sincerely hope that you will take our thanks back to the people of Australia and the government of Australia that we are very grateful, and we enjoy our freedom because of the support of our multilateral partners, and the biggest of which is Australia. Vinaka levu.

Zed Seselja:

Thank you so much, Vinaka, Honourable Dr, Minister Waqainabete. It’s great to finally meet in person. The minister and I have had a lot of conversations over the past many months as we’ve been on this journey together in dealing with this terrible virus which has been so challenging for so many right around the world, and indeed here in Fiji as well.

And, Minister, can I commend you for the leadership you’ve shown during this period and to your Health Ministry and to your frontline workers, many of who I had the opportunity to meet, because it has been a partnership. And you talk about vuvale and what that means – family together in good times but, more importantly, family come together in tough times. And these have been tough times, and that’s why we come together. And we have been pleased to be able to partner with you in support with things like doses and personnel and other equipment. But it has taken your leadership, it’s taken the leadership of your government, it’s taken your outstanding courageous frontline workers to get this virus under control.

Of course there are challenges ahead, but where you have gotten to with your world-leading vaccination program, which is enabling the country to open up, and there’s great excitement about that opening up in Australia, and I know beyond Australia much and there’ll be many Australians having the opportunity to come and visit. And all of the economic activity that goes with it, but that has been enabled by this health response.

So congratulations to you and to your team. And it is an honour that we can work together. As I say, we work together in the tough times and hopefully what we’ll see in the coming years is much better times, much happier times where we’re able to see each other more, we’re able to travel freely and we’re able to enjoy all of the things that we enjoy in general life. But thank you very much again for the warm welcome.

Ifereimi Waqainabete:

Thank you, sir. Lovely.

Speaker:

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. We will now take a few questions from the media. If you have any questions for the two honourable ministers.

Journalist:

Good morning, [indistinct] from Fiji Village Communications Ltd. Are you able to highlight what were some of the discussions held in the bilateral meeting in terms of further help that can be provided to Fiji?

Zed Seselja:

Yeah, good morning, and thank you for the question. We obviously discussed a number of issues which went to the cooperation so far. And obviously we talk about the next steps, because I think the Minister outlined for me just that he never stops, that the job is not done. There will be ongoing challenges, and, you know, I’ll let him speak to some of those, but I was very impressed with what he outlined in terms of the plan going forward to continue to protect the community and continue to strengthen the health system.

Ifereimi Waqainabete:

Vinaka sir, thank you. And exactly as Senator Seselja has alluded to, what is important for Fiji moving forward is actually ensuring that people continue to protect our communities. We’ve identified and continue to identify those who are vulnerable and want to ensure that we meet our aspirations for you to also have coverage, reaching everyone, and leaving no-one behind. But also more importantly, that we are beginning to enjoy the relaxations and the fact that the borders will be open soon, and we’ll have tourists coming through. We also want to make sure that that protection is rendered not only to our communities but also to the visitors that come to our country. We want them to know that they can come to a safe country, they can enjoy the beauty of our country, but they enjoy it in a safe way and go back safely to where they come from. Because that is the wish of any visitor – that they will go and visit and go back home and be rejuvenated. And that’s the role of the Ministry of Health, to ensure that they leave this country in a rejuvenated way and go back and participate in their nations’ in a better way before they came to visit us. Thank you.

Speaker:

Any other questions?

Journalist:

With Australians coming in in droves, we’re hoping from December 1st, what are some of the concerns that you feel that Australians would have?

Zed Seselja:

Well, look, at the moment they’re showing great confidence because I think they’re booking in droves. So I think overall there’s a lot of confidence. I think they would take great confidence from the way that Fiji has responded – the high vaccination rates and all of the way that the health system has responded to the crisis. I think it will be important, and there are some measures in place that I'm sure – I am sure that we will continue to work together to make sure confidence-building measures are there so that healthcare is available. We announced early in my visit some support for the Care Fiji Commitment, which is about ensuring that organisations, hotels and other tourism providers have Covid-safe procedures in place so they can build confidence. Aspen Medical from Australia, a great Canberra company, is doing some audit and assurance work. Now, they have worked all over the world in very challenging situations and come with a great reputation. So I think those sort of things will build confidence. So it is important that the opening is sustainable, but I would say at the moment there is great confidence because people are booking and they are looking forward with some relish to being able to visit.

Journalist:

Good morning sir, I just have a quick question, in terms of international travel, how will the two countries ensure that travel is safe in order to ensure that fully vaccinated Australians are coming into Fiji?

Ifereimi Waqainabete:

Thank you. The officials have been having a lot of discussions and being able to understand what are the requirements of both sides. We also – Dr Fong and the experts have also made sure that we’ve align ourselves to what the international standards are and they’ve done that and in conversations also with tourism industry and our aviation industry. And fortunately, we are not alone, because, as you all know, the aviation industry, they work together. The tourism industry, they work together. Some of our hotels are brand names, you know, for – and they are brand names that are not only in Fiji but also around the world. So they also have their systems and standards in place.

So our role as a Ministry of Health is to work with them and to ensure that they will be able to meet all those compliances that are needed both from a country perspective as the two nations are two sovereign nations, but also from an organisational perspective. And that’s why as the honourable minister has alluded to, is the confidence that has been shown, because the businesses know that they are able to do that because the compliances have been met and the boxes have been ticked and they are able to come across.

But, again, I just want to stress the fact that there has been a lot of work happening behind the scenes, both in Fiji and Australia by the officials, by the frontline workers, by the aviation industry, by the tourism sector to make this happen. And, really, we need to take our hats off to them for all that hard work.

Journalist:

Are we going to accept only vaccinated visitors?

Ifereimi Waqainabete:

Yes, fully vaccinated.

Speaker:

Thank you. Since there are no other questions we will bring this press conference to a conclusion. And we’d like to acknowledge and thank the Honourable Ministers again for fronting up for this press conference. Thank you, sirs.

Zed Seselja:

Thank you.

Speaker:

And we thank the members of the media for your presence. Vinaka vaka levu

Zed Seselja:

Thanks very much, guys.

Ends.