A student activist in Fiji Jope Tarai says there's little reaction on the ground in Fiji to the reported mass surveillance of Pacific Island countries by New Zealand.
The Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB)'s spy base at Waihopai, near Blenheim. Photo: SUPPLIED
Last week the New Zealand media reported that documents provided by the United States whistleblower Edward Snowden show New Zealand's spy agency, the GCSB, is intercepting all communications between about two dozen countries in the region, including Fiji.
The information is then passed on to the United States.
Mr Tarai says the reports are unsurprising and have more implications for diplomats and officials.
"There's not much of a reaction to it at all. When you have various other issues that are battling the people, human rights abuses in West Papua, unemployment rates in Fiji, having to walk into Parliamentary democracy after such a long time, those issues outweight that much more."
Jope Tarai says activists like himself are used to having their phones tapped locally and it would be hypocritical of the government to complain to New Zealand about the surveillance.