Epeli Ganilau Quotes

We need to marshal and direct our energy toward building this nation into a peaceful, prosperous and proud bequest to our children.

There are daily acts of violence to the general public and in all levels of government we have witnessed corrupt practices of bribery, extortion, misuse of public funds, abuse of office and all the pervasive singling out of one race. But in reality, to use it as an excuse so that a select few will benefit in wealth and position.

We must move with speed to mobilise all sectors of society in a stepped-up drive against HIV/AIDS, accelerating the pace to halt the virus before the Pacific's window of opportunity slams shut.

It (2006) will be the year of rebuilding and reclaiming the lost confidence, the lost spirit and the lost soul of our beloved country.

The decision by the Rewa Provincial Council to leave the chairperson's position of the council vacant until the Government has changed the constitution to enable the paramount chief of the province to take the position seems strange in this day and age.

As a country, we have not started to see how much we can achieve as a nation and we will not have any idea of our strength if we continue to deny ourselves the opportunity to come together as one people. We have not been able to pool the resources and talent of our people and exploit them for our common good. It will continue to evade us if we continue to stress our ethnicity and group differences.

I would like to offer for the unity of our people, the adoption of multiracialism as the core ideal in searching for a clear way ahead. We need to get out of our comfort zones, our ethnic boxes and truly embrace multiracialism.

We cannot afford to ignore HIV/AIDS. We can only ignore this battle at the cost of being regarded by future generations of Pacific Islanders as lacking the will, the foresight, the understanding to tackle this issue, which threatens our very future.

There are those people who are acting irresponsibly … and spreading their gospel of fear and hate and not doing anything to help the ordinary people put bread on their table for their families.

To create a Fiji where people of different ethnicities, religions and cultures can live and work together for the good of all, can differ without rancour, govern without violence and accept responsibility as reasonable people intent on serving the best interest of all.

For our people to have lived together for one and a quarter century it is difficult to believe that at a personal level so little cultural transfers have taken place.

I am making a very personal commitment myself. This is a war I am not accustomed to but it is a global war and we are in a global army, fighting against a global enemy - HIV/AIDS.

Whether some people like it or not, Fiji is already a multiracial society. We have different races, but that does not mean we should only work for the good of our own race. We have to truly understand one another, learn each other’s languages, and truly work together. There is huge potential in Fiji, and we would be amazed to see what we will achieve, if we work together.

We pay lip service to multiracialism but we fail to put it into practice because we continue to see most things and ourselves from our own ethnic perspective. So long as the personal attitude persists, we will not see us one people of Fiji and our future will not be secure.

As a people, we have not been able to chart a clear map toward a common destiny. We will not be able to do this if our leaders continue to promote sectional and separate development.