Yesterday the Fiji Voter Registration team came down to Geelong led by one of the Secretaries from the Fiji Embassy in Canberra. The teams are going to the various towns and cities in Australia to register Fiji people who may wish to vote in the upcoming September Fiji election. The visiting staff were very professional and friendly and we had an excellent gathering in the Bay Room of our local Uniting Church. Our Fiji Geelong Friendship Club had networked through a facebook group and word of mouth to alert as many of the Fiji connected famiilies that we knew in Geelong and nearby, We were delighted with the response, even friends from Melbourne came down though they could register closer to their homes. We provided afternoon tea and there was plenty of good chatter as those with Fiji passports waited their turn to register. Afterwards we adjourned to our home and our Fiji Geelong Friendship Club members had brought pots of curry and rice to share. Typical Fiji hospitality even in an Australian city. Another four or five people were still registering - in our kitchen - during our gathering at home! We now feel that if this is an example of Fiji's preparation for the election, then Fiji society can feel confident for the days ahead.
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The team is returning to Australia this week or soon (June 21) for a second round of registration to vote in the election in September. They only got about 660 people registering last round, so I don't know whether it will improve this time. Many people are just not interested or the publicity didn't get out there enough.
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