In July 2006, the Sun Herald reported that “[t]he increasing number of children of Pacific Islander background playing in local competitions has seen some players weighing up to 50 kilograms more than other kids in their own age group” creating an outcry from concerned parents of Anglo-Australian children. These articles and their constant references to size, speed and strength demonstrate that ‘the body’ remains at the centre of much of the discussion and media representations of Pacific Islander men and boys in relation to sport, and more recently, crime.

The disproportionate number of young Pacific Islanders in the NSW prison system has also caused concern for communities and law enforcement. In 2003 the NSW Mt Druitt police launched a program in which “[y]ouths were encouraged to stay in school rather than leave for security guard and bouncer jobs.” The Daily Telegraph reported that the program was “a response to police intelligence reports showing crimes by Pacific Islanders are at epidemic proportions.”

Three years later, in September 2006, Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson held a press conference to address the problem of Pacific Islander gangs in the South Brisbane suburb of Logan. Atkinson  stated “[p]art of the difficulty … is that some of these young men are physically very large and that in itself is part of the problem.” What emerges from the news reports is a habitual association of the Pacific Islander body with intimidating size, strength and a unique physicality that has made Pacific Islander men popular candidates for employment in the military and security.

Military and Private Security Recruitment in Fiji
Journalist Terry Judd claims that Fijian soldiers are “famed for their physical strength, spirit, good humour and rugby skills.” These are attributes that have not gone unnoticed in the continuing war in Iraq. Since 2003 an increasing number of Fijian men have been recruited by companies such as Armour Group (UK), Global Risk Strategies (UK), Homeland Security Ltd (UK), British Control Solutions (UK) and it’s agency Sabre International Security Fiji Ltd, Triple Canopy (US), Public Warehouse Company (Kuwait) and it’s Fijian subsidiary Meridian Security Services, for work as soldiers, security guards, drivers, labourers, mechanics, storemen and computer operators. According to a Fijian Government report, as early as 2005 there were 816 Fiji nationals working for private security companies in Iraq . The latest round of recruitment by private contractors and the British Army has already lead to the deaths of up to 20 Fijian men between April and September in 2006.  In the words of Ema Tagicakibau of the Pacific Concerns Resource Centre, “it’s blackbirding all over again.”

According to Nic McLellan, the Fijian men who have been recruited to the Middle East are often paid less than they are promised for the high risk work. Fijian Home Affairs Minister Josefa Vosanibola recently stated “manning checkpoints as Fiji did in Lebanon for 24 years was like going backward on a wave meant to take you forward.” That wave is continuing to cost lives, and the tragedy is still unfolding for many for Fijian families. The social impact of 20 men dying in such a small community is huge. In 2006 there were 47 Fijian private security guards ‘stranded’ in Kuwait, unable to return to Fiji due to dubious contracts and over 2000 Fijian soldiers serving in British , Australian and New Zealand armies, as well as members of United Nations peacekeeping efforts around the globe.

The effect of their absence on their families is only beginning to become apparent, as there are few psychological support services for these men when they return from conflict and little assistance for the families who receive lump sum insurance payments for men and women killed in service. Journalist Helen Vatsikopoulos addressed this issue an interview with ousted Fijian Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase who explained that “remittances from residents of Fiji, or citizens of Fiji who have gone abroad, has become the second-largest foreign exchange earner for the country.” Infact, according to Time Pacific Magazine “[p]eople are now a more valuable export for Fiji than sugar or clothing – and both those industries are in decline.”

My research will build upon existing knowledge about representations of ‘the black body’, but will focus uniquely on the Fijian experience, which is under represented.

While there has been some research into Fijian masculinity in relation to the political coups, masculinity and militarisation over the last decade there is an absence of critical discussion about the ongoing colonisation of the black male body which seeks to perpetuate the exploitation of Fijians by inscribing the Fijian male body as warrior, criminal, protector.

I will argue that opportunities that have arisen from the Iraq war and the consequences of globalisation have affected employment opportunities and my photographic research demonstrates the position that the black body now occupies within the globalised economy.