Nauru government blamed for Bank quitting plans

Transcript

The opposition in Nauru says the government is squarely to blame for the decision of an off-shore bank to downgrade its involvement in Nauru.

Bendigo Bank had been in talks over several months to open a branch for the island's residents, but the Australian owned bank has decided to abandon its plans due to "uncertainties".

The opposition MP Mathew Batsiua (Bat sue a) says they are not surprised as the government has gradually eroded the reputation of Nauru as a potential investment destination.

He told Bridget Tunnicliffe it's absurd for the government to think the environment it's created would have zero impact.

MATHEW BATSIUA: A bank simply cannot risk operating in an environment where our own government does not abide by the law and our government for a long time now has been ignoring the rule of law. They have not accorded people due process; they've basically ignored our constitution by interfering in the independence of the courts; they've set aside the courts when the ruling by the courts are not in their favour; we've seen them sack the resident magistrate without any due process; we've seen them prevent the Chief Justice from coming to Nauru; we've seen them behave appallingly by not entertaining any requests by international media so they can be made accountable of what they've been doing. You know all this spells for uncertainty and we believe it's this uncertain environment that scared off Bendigo Bank.

BRIDGET TUNNICLIFFE: So you think the government has gradually destroyed the reputation and standing of Nauru as a potential market and investment venue?

MB: For sure, we believe the blame is entirely on this government, especially the minister for justice [   ] who has been at the forefront of these policies that have tainted the reputation of Nauru. In the four years when we were in government prior to that we worked hard to restore the credibility and standing of Nauru in the eyes of the international community. We believe we've been successful, Nauru was being taken seriously, now it seems like we've plummeted back 20-30 years thanks to the inward looking, dictatorial approach of this government.

BT: And you're concerned that other off-shore companies may be reluctant to come to Nauru as well?

MB: We certainly would not be surprised, any reputable off-shore company interested to do business in Nauru will think again purely because the behaviour and conduct of this government has been appalling. All this spells a very poor business environment and frankly we warned the government back in January when they sacked the resident magistrate without any warning that this type of conduct will scare off people, in particular we were referring to the Bendigo Bank, two months later it has and the government cannot point fingers elsewhere because the blame is entirely on their shoulders.

BT: So has the finance minister claimed that the opposition has caused Bendigo Bank to reconsider?

MB: That's what he's saying now they did a press release yesterday blaming us for scaring off Bendigo Bank. We totally refute this, we think policies and the actions of this government speaks volumes of the character and the attitude of our government, that is what scared off Bendigo Bank and this decision now to downgrade their involvement in Nauru is a vote of no-confidence in the business environment that this government has created for Nauru.

Mathew Batsiua says the Bank may still open an agency on the island.