Joni Madraiwiwi citations (62 citations)

Joni Madraiwiwi: 62 citations0 J'aime

Joni Madraiwiwi: Citations en anglais

“For it is only when we all believe that the Constitution and the rule of law protects all our people and their rights, can these guarantors of rights be assured.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Speech to the Fiji Law Society, 2 July 2005.

“We celebrate who we are although we come from different communities. We are one nation, one people. We have differences and these cause problems and tension at times but we are not on the brink of inter ethnic strife.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Opening address, Fiji Week celebrations, 7 October 2005.

“We have survived bitter divisions in our society. Reconciliation requires us to put aside our differences and forgive the injuries done to us just as justice is essential to that equation. Those who have done wrong and broken the law must be punished. There can be no setting to rights or settling of accounts without that element. Until that is done there will be no finality to our collective nightmare. Until we all accept that simple fact the sense of hurt and betrayal continue.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Our Country at the Crossroads - 2001 Parkinson Memorial Lecture Series, 15 August 2001 http://www.usp.ac.fj/journ/docs/news/wansolnews/wansol1508013.html.

“The strength of Commonwealth lies in its diversity and it to be mindful of bearing economic, social, political and cultural systems which comprise its membership … Its commonality lies in its connection to humanity, in the main it has provided an invariable forum whose members to open and continue meaningful issues of concern.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Opening address to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conference in Nadi, 6 September 2005.

“When you (Military personnel) serve in uniform, you serve your country, not your mataqali, yavusa or particular vanua. You serve the larger vanua that encompasses all of us.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Poppy Drive speech, 21 October 2005.

“Those who decry the rule of law as a Western principle or an imported construct, misunderstand the concept. It is about abiding by a set of standards for the well-being of society as a whole.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Speech to the Fiji Law Society, 2 July 2005.

“It is not easy to remain motivated in the face of widespread apathy and self-indulgence.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Speech to the Lautoka Rotary Club (Centenary Dinner), 12 March 2005 http://www.fiji.gov.fj/publish/printer_4326.shtml.

“Reconciliation and forgiveness is inextricably linked to the identity and unity we develop as a nation.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Opening address, Fiji Week celebrations, 7 October 2005.

“There is some suggestion that the Fijian model ought to be adopted as being the first people, the host culture, the landowners and the majority of the population. I have no issue with that proposition, so long as it is acceptable to all other communities as well.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Opening address, Fiji Week celebrations, 7 October 2005.

“We must begin to trust each other if this country is to progress the way we want it to. But before that we have to lay the preparatory work to engender that trust by building relationships every day.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Opening address, Pacific Islands Political Studies Association (PIPSA), 24 November 2005.

“It is not a matter of who can give the most but rather the spirit in which one participates in nation- building. And I apply that term to whatever useful exercise one is doing at any given time.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Opening address to the Leadership Fiji 2006 program, 9 March 2006.

“Until that point (where national unity prevails) is reached, the journey to it must be seen and appreciated for what it is: in a society such as ours where divisions exist both inter-ethnically and within communities the process of nation building of which the rule of law is an integral part requires a deft balancing of priorities in a fair and inclusive manner. This allows everyone to be a part of the challenges that we need to face together. The path to this point has been tortuous and at times strained because we have invariably compromised some of the detail of the rule of law by honouring the letter if not the spirit of the decisions handed down by the courts. However, it has also been a critical learning experience where we have had to combine political reality with legal principle. The result is an imperfect one but the rule of law is stronger for having weathered these sustained assaults on it.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Siwati Memorial Lecture, Honiara, Solomon Islands, 24 September 2004 http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0409/S00253.htm.

“It will be impossible to achieve this (keeping the people together) if the elders and chiefs have their own way and are too proud of their chiefly status to not bring themselves down to the people.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Speech to the Lau Provincial Council, 11 May 2005.

“To say that power should have been returned to the Fijian chiefs is to ignore what occurred between 1874 and 1970.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Address to an educational workshop, Suva, 13 July 2005.

“The critical element is inclusiveness. It is only when the model we adopt and implement is one all can accept, can the prospect of genuine and lasting reconciliation be real.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Opening address, Fiji Week celebrations, 7 October 2005.

“This is a small country with limited resources. Can we afford the time spent on endless debates about ethnicity and identity?”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Opening address to the Tourism Forum at the Sheraton Resort, 7 July 2005.

“There is no denying the powerful emotions appeals to ethnicity can arouse. We need to develop linkages that will subdue or weaken such appeals. This will lie in deepening relationships across ethnic boundaries. It cannot be forced but must be encouraged by all in any position to do so. Because we need to expand and strengthen the interethnic connections which already subsist to mitigate the siren calls of ethnicity when they are made.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Speech to the Lautoka Rotary Club (Centenary Dinner), 12 March 2005 http://www.fiji.gov.fj/publish/printer_4326.shtml.

“This was to no doubt reaffirm Indo-Fijian bravery, they suffered greatly under indenture and were often unfairly and needlessly provoked. They bore it with fortitude and grace.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Poppy Drive speech, 21 October 2005.

“Opportunity marries with circumstance and is midwife to the resultant bartering of public office. The mutuality is advantage to the parties involved merely facilitates the spread of such practices. When it reaches the point of being commonplace and is pragmatically perceived as the most practical means of getting things done, it has become systemic and difficult to eradicate.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Opening remarks to Transparency International Pacific Regional Meeting, 13 April 2005.

“There will necessarily be a tension between the church and tradition on one hand and human rights on the other.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Address to the Pacific Regional Workshop on Leadership Development, Lami, Fiji, 9 July 2005.

“Indigenous rights are those, which relate to indigenous people, their way of life, their land and their resources. They are connected in nature and the birthrights of indigenous people.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Closing address to the Roundtable on Human Rights, Indigenous Rights, and Nationalism, Suva, 23 July 2005.

“However social integration cannot be forced and not proceed at the pace that the community considers uncomfortable.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Opening address to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conference in Nadi, 6 September 2005.

“Remember that the actions of a few, with commitment, can alter the course of world history.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Address to Greenpeace, Suva, 10 July 2005.

“With hindsight, the Samoa system with appropriate modifications ought to have been adopted. The complete acceptance of western democratic structures, apart from the appointment of Bose Levu Vakaturaga appointees in the Senate, in some respect was in advance of the understanding of democratic principles, particularly in the rural areas.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Our Country at the Crossroads - 2001 Parkinson Memorial Lecture Series, 15 August 2001 http://www.usp.ac.fj/journ/docs/news/wansolnews/wansol1508013.html.

“When national leaders address the people of Fiji in specifically Christian terms, whatever the occasion, nearly half of our people are excluded. When prayer in mixed company is uttered in terms of a purely Christian God, we unintentionally omit and diminish others present of different faiths. When we use Christian symbolism to promote reconciliation, forgiveness and unity, we discount the contribution and equally rich traditions extant in other faiths and cultural traditions.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Speech to a Hindu gathering, 26 March 2005 http://pidp.eastwestcenter.org/pireport/2005/March/03-28-02.htm.

“Ultimately, the best guarantor of the rule of law is not the state and the branches which comprise it but the recognition by people of its value and their willingness to fight for, and uphold it.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Siwati Memorial Lecture, Honiara, Solomon Islands, 24 September 2004 http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0409/S00253.htm.

“Those of us born after that era (of World War II), or with little or no knowledge of those experiences, take freedom for granted. In fact, we give little thought because we are preoccupied with the here and now and yet we owe a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid because you (returned servicemen) paid the price in blood.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Poppy Drive speech, 21 October 2005.

“In order to build a common identity, we must find a name with which all of us are comfortable. While I personally have no problem with the term ‘Fijian’, I recognize many others in my community are not. But let us not leave it there, let us find other options.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Calling for a national dialogue on an inclusive nationality adjective for all Fiji citizens <br class="br"> Speech to the Lautoka Rotary Club (Centenary Dinner), 12 March 2005 http://www.fiji.gov.fj/publish/printer_4326.shtml.

“They (Indo-Fijians) came as indentured laborers to this land and were treated harshly. They had little reason to be grateful to their colonial masters and like the indigenous Fijians. The British crown colony of Fiji was funded in part from their toil, yet they were treated like second-class citizens.”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Poppy Drive speech, 21 October 2005.

“Who would have planted the cane, run the mills and funded the colony if they had gone to battle?”

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Joni Madraiwiwi

Poppy Drive speech, 21 October 2005.