BAINIMARAMA, Frank. "Let's be clear, the costs of climate change to our industries, our people, our potential, are crippling. This climate crisis kills. [It] destroys the lands we love"

Frank Bainimarama (Fiji PM) commenting on Australian politicians saying that Pacific Islanders could move to higher ground or migrate to Australia (2019): “Despite the enormous difficulties of these decisions, Fiji is lucky we even have the higher ground to allow for relocation at all. I'm keen to hear what the honourable member believes the people of Kiribati should do in the face of rising seas, when the highest point in their country sits at just 1.8 metres above sea level… In a time when we must be future-facing we can hardly tolerate such insensitive, neo-colonial prescriptions. I implore leaders of Australia to visit these communities and see them firsthand before they propose solutions that are so blatantly out of touch with the reality that Pacific Islanders live with on the ground, day in and day out… Let's be clear, the costs of climate change to our industries, our people, our potential, are crippling. This climate crisis kills. [It] destroys the lands we love” (Stephen Dziedzic, “Fiji leader slams Liberal MP John Alexander’s climate change advice”, ABC News, 8 May 2019: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-08/fiji-leader-slams-liberal-mps-useless-climate-change-advice/11091370 ).