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Australia, New Zealand condemn crackdown in Fiji

Australia and New Zealand yesterday said they would unite to push for more democracy in the troubled South Pacific as they condemned a crackdown on critics by Fiji's military-installed government.

The two neighbors, both major donors to their smaller island neighbors, said they would also present a united front internationally on climate change after Australia agreed in December to sign the Kyoto climate change pact.

"You'll see that reflected in the combined positions we take across the many meetings which will occur across the international community in the two difficult years which lie ahead," Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said after meeting his New Zealand counterpart Helen Clark in Canberra.

Both leaders condemned the Fijian government's decision this week to expel the Australian publisher of the Fiji Sun newspaper over a series of articles accusing Finance Minister Mahendra Chaudhry of tax evasion.

"It's inconceivable that you can hold open, free and fair elections if you have media intimidation," Clark said.

Fiji's military commander Commodore Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, who seized power in a coup in December 2006, has promised to hold elections next year.

Fiji Sun publisher Russell Hunter, 59, said he would continue to run the paper from Sydney.

"I want to be back in Fiji as soon as possible, but for the time being I am working from Sydney," Hunter said. "If I have a computer, telephone and a modem I can do it from just about anywhere in the world."
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