Issue No: 587; 15 March 2001

In a speech to an Australian Labour Party-National Farmers Union dinner held in Sydney over the weekend, the PM stated:
"My message to democratic societies such as Australia and the rest of the international community is that if they do not take a firm stand against treasonous and oppressive regimes, they will be faced with greater instability in the South Pacific."

"The coup of 19 May might not have eventuated if the instigators and
executors of the 1987 coups had been brought to justice. Western societies and international institutions such as the United Nations and the Commonwealth cannot just pontificate on the virtues of democracy and good governance."

"They must act to ensure these principles are protected. Failure to do so will only lend greater encouragement to the forces of destabilisation."

Chaudhry was speaking before the Acting President sent him a letter purportedly dismissing him from the PMship.