Nauru attacks foreign media

YAREN – Nauru’s justice minister has rejected foreign journalists’ calls for greater access, saying the country’s government has no obligation to answer to foreign media.

In a statement, David Adeang accused Australian media of approaching Nauru with great arrogance and an air of racial superiority.

Last year, Nauru hiked its nonrefundable visa application fee by 4000 per cent to $5,000 US dollars as a revenue gathering move.

For more than 18 months, Adeang and the country’s president, Baron Waqa, have refused to answer requests for comment or interviews and have recruited a Brisbane-based PR firm to handle all media inquiries.

Adeang says the reason the government refuses to answer many of the “ridiculous” questions posed to it by journalists is because it has no obligation to answer to foreign media.

He says journalists don’t show Nauru the respect of a sovereign nation and in return, the government has little respect for journalists who will never accept the facts.

Adeang says if the country allowed journalists to visit, refugees who are living peacefully would be asked by refugee advocates to start rioting for the cameras.

Last week, Nauru admitted a reporter from The Australian but his employer has declined to say whether he was charged the visa application fee.

- RNZI