The government of Vanuatu is standing firm in its decision to deport an Australian lawyer Robert Herd, despite his threat to sue for damages.
Transcript
The government of Vanuatu is standing firm in its decision to deport an Australian lawyer Robert Herd, despite his threat to sue for damages.
Mr Herd was deported last week amid allegations he was involved in funding an attempt at a no confidence motion against the Prime Minister Joe Natuman.
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister, Kiery Manassah, told Indira Moala that Mr Herd was in breach of the Immigration Act.
KIERY MANASSAH: It's not easy in Vanuatu where there are so many coalitions and political instability is a big issue. And so the government decided to deport Mr Herd - and there is also evidence and people are aware that Mr Herd is closely connected to Moana. I mean, the government is absolutely confident about it's decision. People might perceive it as a bit too harsh but you know I think the government has laws here and it wants to make sure that people are here for a good cause and they don't get involved in local politics. It's not easy for the government to run especially when there are people trying to cause instability and cause further problems for the government to govern properly.
INDIRA MOALA: Did Ham Lini and Charlot Salwai find clear evidence that Robert Herd was interfering in politics?
KM: Yeah, the Prime Minister was away in Samoa and the decision was undertaken under the leadership of his acting (Prime Minister) at the time which was Ham Lini and really, the decision was undertaken by the Minister for Internal Affairs and the Principal Immigration officer who is responsible for immigration issues here in Vanuatu.
IM: Mr Natuman announced a couple of days ago that there would be more deportations if they do find evidence of any other foreigners getting involved in politics. So is this sending a clear message to those foreigners not to get involved?
KM: Yes, yes exactly. The government has a lot of ideas, it wants to implement a lot of good initiatives and it won't be able to do it unless it has stability and the Prime Minister made that very clear that he won't hesitate to deport anyone who is found to be meddling in local politics. And that's a clear message from him.
IM: Is the government worried at all that Robert Herd might sue for compensation?
KM: Mr Herd will have to have a very good ground to file for damages. As far as the government is concerned, it has information there and it's absolutely clear with its decision and it's up to Mr Herd to do whatever he wants. At the end of the day, the government wants to protect its integrity. The national interest is more important than this.
IM: Given the fact that expats and foreigners actually have quite a big influence in the Pacific - they can get either involved in politics or provide finances sometimes to fund activities, do you think that this will have an effect or an impact on the rest of the Pacific?
KM: The current Prime Minister and the current government, they have in the pipeline a clear (plan) towards addressing political instability and obviously there is no doubt that the issue of financing of political parties is one of the issues that's going to be addressed when the government starts the process of trying to bring about some kind of political reform. Definitely that is an issue that will have to be clarified and made clear in the reforms that's being planned by the government.
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