Fiji has a track record of service to the British crown. Travel to Hereford, where the Special Air Service is based, and you will find a statue of Sergeant Talaiasi Labalaba, who was one of the 212 Fijians who joined the British Army in 1961 and gave his all in the 1972 Battle of Mirbat in Oman.
When you arrive at Nadi International Airport in Fiji, there is another statue honouring his sacrifice.
Opposition defence spokesperson Andrew Hastie’s call for foreigners, including from the Pacific, to enlist in the Australian Defence Force (ADF), is therefore neither new, nor necessarily unwelcome, in parts of the Pacific.
