As pressure for constitutional change builds up, Fijian nationalists talk passionately of an Indian conspiracy to wrest power way from ethnic Fijians. Meanwhile the Fijian elite is running the country into the ground through corruption and mismanagement. Fiji’s former minister of Economics took out a loan from the National Bank to transform a tropical paradise into hundreds of manicured plots for the wealthy. The scheme proved unsuccessful and the minister was left with a vast debt to the bank. But in a covert deal, he managed to get his estate overvalued at a price which conveniently paid off his loan. Such incompetence on the part of the National Bank provides a gross disincentive for investment from abroad. As the economy stutters, both Indians and native Fijians have fallen into poverty. Yet the racial tensions cited by politicians are not yet a reality. In one rural community, a hospital mix up left a Fijian and Indian family bringing up the wrong sons. As she washes the face of the Fijian boy whom she suckled, the Indian mother is adamant that she cannot give him up. The Fijian family, however, are keen to swap back their son. Significantly, both families work out their differences with tolerance and understanding. A penetrative report which concludes that political wrangling and lack of economic confidence may place this grassroots harmony under threat.

Produced by ABC Australia